Change of Time
by kathyluvzelle
Summary: *Season 2 Sequel to Fix You* Katherine and Elizabeth are back in town and with them come more mysteries and obstacles for Sam and her loved ones to deal with. New enemies emerge and more secrets are revealed. Will Sam and her loved ones make it out in one piece?
1. The Return

**Ha, okay, so I fibbed. I know I said expect this Sept. 14th and no later, buttttt I don't think anyone would complain too much if I let this come out a tad early. I'm impatient and I really wanted to get it out so...yeah.**

 **My lovelies, I present to you the sequel you've all been anticipating! Enjoy, you beautiful people!**

 **3 Kathy~**

 **Fave Song- Come Home by OneRepublic and Sara Bareilles**

* * *

I sat quietly in the waiting room of the hospital, my knee involuntarily bouncing up and down as I awaited for a doctor or a nurse- someone to come give me some good news. Hopefully good, at least.

Shortly after Katherine's name popped in my mind on the stairs back at home, I immediately went to find her only to have my suspicions confirmed when I entered the kitchen just in time to see Katherine cut Uncle John's fingers off and stab him.

She escaped at vampire speed after seeing me and while I was tending to John and calling 911, Elena came home. She was horrified by what happened, of course, but pulled through it to go check on Jeremy in case Katherine hurt him too.

Thankfully, he was alright.

And that's how I ended up here. When the ambulance arrived at the house, Elena insisted I go with Uncle John as a hospital full of people would be safer to be in than the house where a malevolent vampire had been invited in. The only reason I agreed was because she had called Stefan, who arrived just as the ambulance were carting Uncle John out, and I really was worried about Uncle John.

Jerk or not, blood or not- he was still family.

Shortly after we arrived at the hospital and he was taken back by the doctors, Bonnie, Chastity, Olivia, and Matt found me and informed me that Matt, Tyler, and Caroline were in an accident. Apparently, Tyler lost control of the car after he heard a noise and apparently got a migraine. He and Matt were both fine, but Caroline…she didn't look good. And as curious as I was about why the Gilbert device- the noise I'm assuming Tyler heard- affected him, it wasn't the time to be asking questions about that.

"This is insane," Olivia huffed as she entered the waiting room again. "The least they could do is tell us if she's still alive."

"I think they would have told us otherwise if she wasn't," Chastity numbly pointed out. "Besides, if they're doing surgery, they can't exactly give us an update every ten minutes."

"What if she doesn't make it?" Bonnie suddenly whispered.

Olivia sent her a glare.

"That's a real optimistic thought," she snapped. "This is Caroline, here. The girl could be puking blood and she would still be able to plan three town festivals, five parties, and eight school dances. She's going to be fine."

Though her tone was firm and sharp, there was still an underlying fear of the possibility that Caroline wouldn't be alright in the end.

Chastity set a hand on my shoulder.

"How are you doing?" she asked me.

"Okay, considering," I sighed. "Uncle John is going to be fine. I already know that. Caroline…she's a fighter. She has to be okay."

"What even happened with your uncle?" Olivia asked then. "You said he was here but you never said how."

That's right. I never told them what happened after I got home. About Katherine, about her attacking Uncle John….about Damon.

What was I even supposed to say happened with Damon? Now that I have my head back, that whole situation just seemed completely insane!

He was in love with Elizabeth and he yet he almost kissed me? Why would he do that? Who was I to him, even? Was I Sam or was I just a perfect carbon copy replacement for Elizabeth?

I shook my head. My relationship with Damon should be the last thing I think about right now.

"He was stabbed. It's a long story," I answered shortly, hinting that it involved the supernatural and there was someone here who was unaware of that world and I wanted to keep it that way.

I looked over at Matt, whose eyes were glistening with unshed tears, and I set a hand on his shoulder.

"Caroline's gonna be fine," I assured him softly. "She's…she's strong. She'll make it through this, I mean…she has to."

He looked back at me and sniffled. "I hope so."

* * *

I was wrong.

Caroline's surgeon told her mother, who then told us, that Caroline was weak and that, essentially, they weren't sure she was going to make it.

Bonnie was despaired by the news and though I wanted to cry enough to make a lake, I wrapped my arms around her to comfort her.

It was like a slap to the face hearing that Caroline might not make it. The heavy, sick possibility- one that I had rejected as an option since I heard she was here in the first place- that we may actually lose Caroline tonight had forced its way in.

Shortly after we got the news, Elena arrived and was equally shocked and devastated by Caroline's condition.

"Is there something that one of you can do?" she asked Bonnie and Chastity pleadingly. "Like a spell or something?"

Before either got a chance to answer, a new voice cut in.

"They don't know how," Damon spoke as he walked up to our group. "Do you?"

"No," Chastity confirmed shortly.

"I don't," Bonnie said begrudgingly.

Damon, who was unsurprised by their responses, came to a stop right beside me as he looked at the two.

"No, you don't. Because it took Emily years to learn a spell like that and even if Rapunzel here did know it, she still most likely wouldn't have enough witch juice to execute it the right way."

Chastity glared at Damon, but didn't say anything to argue.

"Oh, well, we can both take down a vampire. That spell was easy to learn," Bonnie countered.

Damon turned from Bonnie and Chastity's glares to me.

"I can give Caroline some blood," he said lowly so no one near would overhear.

I narrowed my eyebrows in thought.

"Is that a good idea?" I asked worriedly.

"No. No way," Elena shot down at the same time, shaking her head firmly.

"Just enough to heal her. She'll be safe in the hospital and it'll be out of her system in a day. She'll be better," Damon appealed to Elena.

"It's too risky," Elena argued. "I can't agree to that."

"Well, I wasn't really asking for your permission," Damon retorted.

He looked back to me, his eyes showing concern and the genuine desire to help.

I bit my lip thoughtfully. If he gave Caroline some of his blood, she would be healed. It would be a guarantee that she would be okay and make a full recovery. On the down side, if something happened in the twenty-four hours the blood was in her system…she'd be in transition and would be forced to choose between dying and becoming a vampire…

Then again, this was Caroline. As selfish as it was, I would rather let her make that choice than lose her for good.

"Do it," Bonnie said before I could say anything.

Damon, Elena, and I looked over at her in surprise.

"This is Caroline," Bonnie explained to Elena and I. "Ok? We can't let her die."

"We can take the risk," Chastity added. "It's no secret I'm not the girl's biggest fan, but I don't want her dead. So do it, Damon."

Damon shifted his eyes back to me for confirmation. I wasted no time and nodded to him.

I already trusted Damon with giving Caroline his blood. Bonnie and Chastity doing the same was just the nail in the coffin.

"If I do this, you two and me, call a truce," Damon asked said girls with some distaste and a small smirk.

"No way in hell," Chastity deadpanned.

"But you'll do it anyway," Bonnie stated confidently. "For Sam."

With that, she and Chastity left, leaving me in one of the most uncomfortable situations I've ever been in. One with my sister glaring daggers at the guy who earlier tonight kissed my cheek and almost kissed me.

I swallowed when I saw Damon look from where Bonnie was just standing to Elena.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want to do right now, but we should talk about what happened tonight," Damon said to her.

"Yeah, one of the tomb vampires got into the house and almost killed John!" she replied.

Tomb vampires? Oh right, she didn't know!

"What? What- when? What are you talking about, after I left?" Damon asked with a scrunched face.

Elena furrowed her eyebrows, clearly not knowing what he was talking about.

"You were there?" Elena asked, glancing at me from the corner of her eye.

I sighed.

"Guys…let's find a more private area. I have a couple things I should have told you earlier," I finally said.

They just wouldn't be fun to say. Especially to Elena.

* * *

After I filled Elena and Damon in on the events that occurred at the house after I got there, including the fact that it was in fact Katherine that was posing as Elena when Damon and I almost kissed, Elena insisted we get back home to make sure everything was okay and, most likely, to talk more about the almost-kiss.

Upon entering the house, the first thing I saw was Stefan pushing himself off the ground on to his feet as Damon, Elena, and I walked in.

"Stefan?" Elena said concerned.

"Elena," Stefan said back examining her closely. He looked over at me. "Sam…"

I looked around the living room, noticing how a couple picture frames were knocked over and the coffee table was tipped to the side, before I returned my gaze back to Stefan.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

He nodded in response while Elena stuttered.

"W-what happened?" she asked fearfully.

"Katherine happened," Damon answered after seeing the look on Stefan's face.

Elena looked horrified. I knew back at the hospital when I told her about Katherine returning, she was hoping there was a possibility that she heard wrong, that it was a dream.

In a way, it sort of was. A real-life dream.

* * *

A few minutes later, Elena went upstairs to tell Jeremy about Katherine being back in town. She insisted on going alone as she was sure he was angrier with her than me at the moment and she wanted to prove to him that she had no intentions of keeping anymore secrets from him. Considering I was the one who told him all about vampires and everything that had been happening at the time, I didn't argue with her.

"Did she say what she wanted?" Damon interrogated Stefan while Elena was upstairs.

"No," Stefan answered.

"Woman certainly knows how to make an entrance," Damon muttered.

"She said she fooled one of us at least," Stefan started. "What does that- what does that mean?"

I shifted on the stool I was sitting on uncomfortably while Damon eyed me for a moment before answering Stefan.

"She pretended to be Elena, too, when I showed up earlier tonight," he said.

Stefan's face turned suspicious and he glanced between Damon and I. I cleared my throat and looked down at the counter while Elena entered the room.

"I told Jeremy," she said. "Sam was right. We can't keep these kinds of things from him anymore."

"Is he alright?" I asked, standing up. "I should go talk to him-"

"No!" Elena quickly said. Then she calmed down cleared her throat. "No, he's fine. He just…needs to sleep."

I stared at her oddly for a moment. Why did she react that way? Was she…keeping something from me? Again?

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked, clearly trying to steer the topic on to something else other than Jeremy.

"No, I'm not alright," Elena answered honestly. "I thought that with all the tomb vampires gone, thing would get better."

"Things will get better," I promised her. "We just need to figure out why Katherine came back, find out what she wants."

One thing I really didn't understand is why she came back now. She took off on Pearl and Anna before, so why come back now? Was it because she heard about what happened to Pearl? Or Anna? Did she come back out of respect?

And had she been looking for Elizabeth? I didn't mention it before to Damon and Elena, but she did mistaken me for Elizabeth when she was here earlier and she said something about looking for her for a long time. Was that the reason why she left in the first place? To go find her sister?

"Katherine was in this house," Elena realized. "Sam said that Jenna accidentally invited her in when she thought she was me. What are we going to do?"

"Move," Damon suggested with a smile.

Elena gave him an annoyed look while I merely shook my head.

"Very helpful. Thank you," Elena sarcastically thanked.

"This may sound weird, but I don't think we have as much to worry about as you may think," I spoke up. Elena looked at me like she thought I was loosing my grip on reality. "Look, she was here. She had an opportunity to kill me and she didn't. She could have killed you when you came home, but she didn't. I feel like if she really wanted us dead…then we'd be dead by now."

"She has a point," Damon agreed. "Katherine wants you dead, there's zero you can do about it, you would be dead. But you're not. So clearly she has other plans."

Elena sat down, realizing that Damon and I were right, while Stefan stood behind the chair she sat on.

"Right, and we need to find out what those plans are without provoking her in the process," he said pointedly eyeing Damon. "What happened tonight you thought she was Elena?"

I bit my lip while Damon gave his trademark smirk while Stefan and Elena looked back at him suspiciously and curiously, respectively.

"To risk another…frown line encroaching on a _very_ crowded forehead, Sam and I…kissed."

My head snapped to him in shock and my jaw dropped. Why would he tell our siblings that we kissed?!

"What do you mean you kissed?" Stefan questioned dangerously, his eyes never wavering from Damon.

"Well, you know, when two lips pucker and they go-"

Damon, who was having far too much fun messing with Stefan, puckered his lips and made loud kissing noises, only to stop shortly after he started when Stefan snapped and blurred toward Damon. Damon was able to dodge him and speed away, now standing where Stefan once stood while Stefan stood beside me.

"Oh come on, Stefan," Damon lightly said. "No need to go protective daddy-big brother mode."

I hastily moved in between the brothers when Stefan started toward Damon again.

"We didn't actually kiss!" I quickly told him. "Okay? It was just…a peck on the cheek and that was it."

"Well, I would have kissed her if Katherine didn't come when she did."

"Damon," I sighed.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, Stefan," Elena spoke up, eyeing Damon coldly. "I don't trust Damon at all with Sam, but we don't have time for this."

"Later," Stefan said in a way that didn't leave room for argument or questions.

I put my face in my hands and shut my eyes, knowing that Damon agreed to do whatever they were going to do later. I didn't want Damon and Stefan arguing, especially not if I was going to be the cause of it. It made me feel like…Elizabeth.

"Uncle John must know something," I started, desperate to change the topic and the atmosphere from my almost kiss with Damon. "There has to be a reason why Katherine tried to kill him."

"She's Katherine," Damon simply said. "She loves to play games, and you're fooling yourself if you think you're going to find out what she's up to before she wants you to know. Only thing I'd like to know is whether or not she brought her little sister with her when she breezed back in to town."

Stefan shook his head.

"I'm sure we would have seen Elizabeth by now if she was here," he said thoughtfully. "She would have done something to let us know she was here."

"I don't think Katherine even knows where she is," I said then. "Earlier she thought I was Elizabeth and asked what I was doing here."

"She thought you were Elizabeth?" Elena asked surprised, most likely over the fact that not even Katherine could tell the difference between her sister and me.

Although I had no room to talk. It took me a few minutes to realize Katherine wasn't Elena.

"For a second before she realized I was…me."

Elena bit her lip.

"Maybe you're right," she mused. "Maybe John does know something. If not himself, then through Isobel. She was in touch with Elizabeth."

"Maybe we can go to the hospital and talk," Stefan suggested.

I looked to Elena, ignoring Damon's eye roll at the suggestion.

"I think it should be you who goes," I told her. "Your his biological daughter. He may feel more obligated to give you answers."

Elena nodded in agreement.

"I've got a better idea," Damon said.

"What's that?" Elena pressed, not sounding entirely interested.

"I'm just gonna ignore the bitch. And if Mini Bitch pops up, I'm gonna ignore that one too," he replied. "See you."

"Is that smart?" Elena asked him.

"If Katherine thinks she's being ignored, it'll lure her out. She never handled being ignored well. She'll make a move."

"Yeah? And then what?" Stefan challenged, earning another smirk from Damon.

"Stake her, rip her head off- something poetic. We'll see."

He sent me a wink before taking his leave. As soon as he was gone, I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

I hoped that all the dangers were gone. I hoped that everything would get easier after the tomb vampires left and everyone would be safe. But something told me that the tomb vampires were just the beginning.

* * *

The next day, I went with Stefan and Elena to the hospital, but I stayed away from Uncle John's room and instead opted to visit Caroline while Stefan and Elena went to Uncle John.

While I was worried about the man I grew up calling "uncle", I couldn't shake off our last interaction. The look of total and utter hate in his eyes as he talked about Stefan and Damon, how they should both be dead, and how he tried to convince me that Damon was a killer who shouldn't be trusted…it wouldn't go away.

Honestly, just knowing he was alive was enough for me. I didn't need to see him, if anything Elena did. I preferred to check on Caroline to make sure she was healing up alright, which she was, thankfully. I mostly focused on Caroline during that time, not realizing just how rattled I was from almost losing her until after I saw her glowing smile.

Only after Stefan and Elena came to get me after what I assumed was a not so nice visit with John did I allow myself to think about him and recall the last thing he said to me.

" _All I can say is that I was asked to protect you."_

Why? Did Uncle John's "protection" have anything to do with the vampires who'd been showing up and saving me up until that point? Was there a possibility that Katherine knew something about that?

I could wonder all I wanted. I knew getting answers would be extremely difficult, especially considering who had them, and I had other things to worry about first. Like my sister.

"So how did things go?" I asked once we were outside.

Elena groaned. "Not good. He's just…so full of hate and it made him so hard to talk to. I could barely stomach being in the same room as him for five minutes."

I gave her a sympathetic hug, wishing there was something I could do for her but instead I was tortured with the fact that I couldn't. Uncle John…John…was Elena's biological father and he was too preoccupied with hating Stefan and Damon and being absolutely disgusted with their existence to think of what Elena really needed and was asking from him.

"How did you leave things with John anyway?" she asked Stefan once I parted from her.

"I…I asked him to leave town."

"Asked?" I picked at his choice of words. Judging by the look on his face and the tone of his voice, he didn't _ask_ John anything.

"I threatened him," Stefan caved.

"Good," Elena huffed, even though I wasn't entirely in agreement with her. I didn't agree with John's beliefs or actions, especially trying to kill Stefan and Damon, but I didn't want to threaten him either. Once again, he was still family. "I want him gone, Stefan. I know that I shouldn't feel that way, but I don't want someone like that in my life. Or Sam's or Jeremy's."

"I know. I know," Stefan nodded understandably.

Elena embraced him and took a deep breath while I wondered.

"What now?" I asked them.

Elena pulled away from Stefan and he looked down at me in determination.

"Now, I need to go find Damon," he answered.

I stiffened. "Stefan, please don't fight with him."

"He tried to kiss you, Sam, and not in the way that he really did," he argued. "I'm not okay with it and neither is Elena."

"I understand that you guys are concerned about my relationship with Damon, but that's not the problem right now," I sighed. "Katherine is. She's already messing with everyone's heads by going around pretending to be Elena."

"And Damon isn't stable when it comes to her or Elizabeth," Elena added.

"Right," I stiffly said unconvincingly. "We just…we have to focus on Katherine and figuring out why she's here. That means sticking together and not fighting with each other."

It took him a minute, but Stefan eventually relaxed and nodded, much to my relief. Katherine being here and potentially meaning harm to the people I cared about was problem enough. I didn't want a pair of feuding Salvatore brothers on the side.

* * *

"Looks like the whole town has turned up," Aunt Jenna observed as we walked up the lawn of the Lockwood mansion.

After we left the hospital, Elena and I went back to the house to pick Aunt Jenna and Jeremy up for the memorial honoring the deceased Mayor Lockwood.

"Yeah, well he is…he was the mayor," Elena corrected herself awkwardly.

"Why don't they just save it for the funeral?" Jeremy asked irritably.

"It's what people do," Jenna sighed. "The Lockwoods were here for us when we went through this. It'll be quick. We'll drop off the food and pay our respects and go."

As she spoke and we walked up to the front porch, I caught Damon standing alone to the right with a drink in hand. I told my family to go on ahead and that I would catch up with them. While Jeremy went without a problem, Elena and Aunt Jenna were a bit more hesitant, but allowed me to walk over to him alone nonetheless.

"Hey," I greeted him. "How are you doing?"

"Great, Sam. Walkin' on sunshine, thanks for asking," he answered insincerely before taking a gulp of his drink.

I pursed my lips and gave him a look, telling him I wasn't buying his answer at all. He sighed and turned to me fully.

"I tried to kiss you…I mean, I kissed your cheek and attempted to really kiss you. Your sister pops up, interrupts us, turns out to be her doppelgänger…how do you think I'm doing?"

"I think you're confused," I said. "I think that Katherine popping back up out of nowhere is really messing with your head and…you're hurt. Because I've been being weird about what happened between us and you're taking it as a bad sign."

"I don't get hurt," he lied, which earned him another look from me.

"You get hurt. You just pretend you don't," I called him out. "Then you get angry and you do something completely reckless and regrettable."

"You're scared," he noted. "You think Katherine is gonna send me off the deep end, don't you?"

"No," I denied honestly. "I just know how much she's hurt you in the past and that you're still hurting because of what she and her sister did."

"So it's not Katherine you're afraid of. It's Elizabeth."

As soon as he said her name, I realized how afraid I really was of Elizabeth. Not afraid in the sense that I thought she was scary and would hurt me, but in the sense that I feared she would come back to town and wrap Damon around her finger all over again and break his heart.

I was afraid of what she would do as soon as she got to town because as much destruction as the tomb vampires caused and as much trouble as Katherine was causing now, I didn't want to even think about what Elizabeth could do.

"Let me ask you something- why is it such a surprise that I would kiss you?" he asked suddenly.

"It…was a shock," I admitted. "Because…you know what, now isn't really the time to talk about this."

I didn't want to tell him the real reason. I couldn't find the words to do it.

"Fine," he said. "But let me just say this…no matter what you may be thinking in that pretty little head of yours, and I have a pretty good idea of what it is, you're wrong. Never underestimate how special you are to me."

I stared up at him, unsure of how to react. On one hand, I wanted to smile and throw myself in his arms because it was the first time he really clearly stated what I meant to him. On the other hand, I had my doubts that he knew exactly what was on my mind. Worse, if he did and I turned out to be wrong…I would feel guilty for thinking it.

"Sam!"

I ripped my eyes away from Damon's and looked over my shoulder where Elena and Bonnie stood, Chastity and Olivia right behind them.

"What happened?" I asked, noticing their alarmed states.

I had a bad feeling about this…

* * *

My instinct was right. Katherine was here, posing as Elena again. She fooled Bonnie, Chastity, and Olivia up until Bonnie touched her arm and figured out who- and what- she really was. After that, Katherine attacked them and most likely would have killed them if Bonnie hadn't used her magic to open the doors of the room they were in. That was when Stefan stepped in and made Katherine leave them alone.

It was scary to think that there was someone walking around the property who looked exactly like my sister and was managing to fool everyone, even those closest to her.

Now, we were looking all around for Stefan and Katherine. Damon, Elena, and I searched out by the pond where we found Stefan. He was pressing against his abdomen, blood seeping through his shirt and fingers, and struggling to get himself up off his knees.

A picture of John flashed through my mind as I rushed over to Stefan and helped him up on the bench along with Damon. Damon soon left to see if he could find where Katherine went, leaving Elena to tend to Stefan's wound while I stood across from them, feeling like ten years were just taken off my life purely from anxiety.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Elena asked Stefan as she wiped up the blood from his stomach.

"Yeah, it'll heal."

"That's not what she meant," I informed him, knowing he dodged the question on purpose.

"I was trying to figure her out. I was playing along, I let her get to me," he admitted with shame. "She tried appealing to me through my emotions, my supposed love for her, and when that didn't work, she used Elizabeth. Apparently, she's still looking for her- which is the only thing she said that I believed. Has absolutely no idea where she is, but she's guessing she'll make an appearance soon enough when word about the tomb vampires gets to her."

At that, I blanched, but kept my cool otherwise. It was Katherine's guess, not a confirmation.

"I tried to track her, but she's gone," Damon announced as he walked back up to us. He cringed and shut his eyes, averting his head in overdramatic disgust. "Ooh, cover up, Fabio. Cute stuff here doesn't need to see that."

I rolled my eyes and so did Stefan, but he pulled down his shirt.

"We got a crazy ex on the loose," Damon continued, then smirked down at Elena. "You better watch out, looks like Katherine is trying to steal your guy."

"That's not what's happening," Stefan denied after seeing the effect the possibility had on Elena.

"Isn't it?" Damon tested.

"Even if she was, it wouldn't matter. Stefan loves Elena," I spoke up.

Elena sent me a small, thankful smile, but I could still see the anxiety in her eyes.

"Well it just makes me wonder what Elizabeth would do if she showed up," Damon shrugged. "Who would she go after? You know, since I went after Sam and everything."

"Okay, I'm gonna go check on Jenna," Elena spoke up, clearly wanting to get the hell out of there. She took my hand as she walked by me and began pulling me away with her. "Let us know when you guys are done."

With that, she quickly began leading me away from the Salvatores and back to the house. About halfway there, I began tugging back to slow her down.

"Hey," I called to her. "Elena, look at me."

Shaking slightly, Elena slowed to a stop and looked at me with a brave face, though I didn't miss the way her face scrunched up ever so slightly to keep the tears at bay.

"Come here," I whispered, pulling her in to an embrace.

She didn't say anything or protest as I wrapped my arms around her, just tightly wound her arms around me and took deep breaths to calm herself down.

Even though she didn't say it, I could tell she was worried about Katherine being around Stefan again. I knew she was worried about what Katherine would do and how much of an effect she still had on Stefan. And not even just him, but Damon too. He may have been yearning for Elizabeth for over a century, but what hold did Katherine have on him- if any?

* * *

 **Third POV**

At the end of the day, at the Salvatore boarding house, Damon poured himself a drink and reflected on the day's events.

After Sam and Elena left him and his little brother alone, Stefan refused to fight Damon even though a playful Damon was ready for him to attack him over the youngest Gilbert.

All because Stefan knew what Damon didn't say out loud and desperately hoped to keep hidden: she made him feel. She managed to dig and find something in him that he thought died long ago and it was because of that Stefan was refusing to fight. Also because he wanted to stay united with Damon against Katherine and, when the time inevitably came, Elizabeth.

Honestly, Damon wished that Stefan would have just punched him. It would distract him from the fact that Sam has barely spoken to him since he kissed her cheek and almost kiss-kissed her.

He knew she felt something for him. She had to have. He could see it in her eyes earlier. What he didn't understand was why she was holding back. Did she honestly believe that Elizabeth had anything to do with the feelings he had for her?

Of course she did. What else could it be? She was Elizabeth's perfect replica- save for the polar opposite personalities- and Damon came to town with the intention of getting Elizabeth back all because he was in love with her for nearly a century and a half. Besides that, Katherine was back and she was known to seduce- or at least try to seduce- Damon and Stefan both.

As he walked through the living room, Damon paused when he felt a new presence and smiled sardonically to himself, knowing exactly who the intruder was.

"Very brave of you to come here," he said before turning to look at Katherine, who was perched on the furthest end of the sofa from him.

Katherine, who looked a lot healthier and much more like a glamazon version of Elena, smiled at him.

"I wanted to say goodbye," she told him.

"Why? You didn't bother with the goodbye last time. Why are you leaving so soon anyway?" he asked.

"I know where I'm not wanted," she pitifully stated.

"Don't pout," Damon said, taking a sip of his bourbon. "It's not attractive on a woman your age."

Katherine scoffed, genuinely surprised that he insulted her. "Ouch."

Damon chased the rest of his drink back, setting the empty glass down after he did, and began heading out of the room.

"Do me a favor if you ever manage to track down your sister, tell her not to bother coming to town," he called over his shoulder. "Stefan won't want anything to do with her and I sure as hell don't."

Katherine suddenly appeared in front of him with a cat-like smirk.

"Are you sure you don't?" she quizzed. "Because as I heard, you've been running around for the past century or so searching for a way to open the tomb again. In fact, I have you to thank for my freedom."

"Please. Don't bother," Damon said distastefully. "Just take your leave and don't come back now, ya hear?"

He stepped around her, only for her to step back in front of him.

"No goodbye kiss?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You know I never was one for those. Especially not with you."

"Oh that's right. You preferred spending your time with my sister dearest," Katherine rolled her eyes before smiling mischievously. "Well since she isn't here…I'd be more than happy to distract you."

"Read my lips, instead: no," Damon whispered.

Katherine scoffed and stepped closer to him, toying with the buttons of his shirt.

"All because of your little Elizabeth replacement, huh?" she hummed, giggling when he looked down at her. "I've been watching you, you know. I didn't spend all of my time looking for Elizabeth after I left Pearl and Anna. I did my research on this town. I couldn't rely solely on Isobel's intel, you know."

"Let me ask you something, as long as you're here," Damon decided after a moment. "About your sister. You knew her better than anyone, up until she had you locked in that tomb, of course. She must have talked to you about things. What was on her mind, what she thought of people, what she wanted…I just want the truth. Just once. Even if I don't hear it from her, I have to know…"

"Stop," Katherine groaned when his voice became too pleading and desperate for her taste. "Just stop. I already know your question and its answer. And the truth is…Elizabeth never loved you. She never loved Stefan, either. Elizabeth never loved anyone."

Damon swallowed thickly at her cold answer and nodded once, accepting the truth as it was. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt as much as he once thought it would. He knew exactly why, too.

"Not that it really matters to you now," Katherine went on. "You and I both know that."

Finally, Katherine moved away from Damon and started toward the door, pulling on her jacket on the way, and disappeared in to the night.

* * *

 **Sam's POV**

After I changed in to my pajamas and brushed through all the tangles in my hair from the day, I began brushing my teeth.

As I brushed, all the day's events began playing in my head like a sports replay with commentary included. The only difference was that my commentary consisted of worry instead of just explaining the actions and critiquing the players.

I was worried about Elena. Sure, she was exposed to Katherine before, but the last time we saw her she looked ready to wither away, as if just one touch would turn her to dust. I knew Elena was more relieved than anything when she left town, but she was also distressed about what Katherine could possibly have been doing and when she was planning on coming back. Now she was back and was at full health and masquerading herself as Elena through town. She looked so much like her that even Bonnie and I were fooled.

Then there was Damon and Stefan. No matter what they said, I knew they had some sort of feelings for Katherine in the past and I knew Damon at one point was hoping that she could at least give him an idea of where Elizabeth was.

I sighed after I finished brushing my teeth. Sooner or later I was going to lose all of my hair or my sanity if I kept worrying like this.

I left the bathroom and entered my bedroom, jumping back when I saw a figure sitting quietly at the foot of my bed.

"Damon," I gasped after I recovered from the startle. "You scared me."

"Just doing my part in the neighborhood watch," he stated in an un-Damon like glumness.

I walked around to the other side of my bed. "Thanks for looking out for us. For me."

"That's me, your trusty bodyguard. Calm in crisis."

I watched him carefully with furrowed brows, noticing now how he wavered from side to side slightly and the way he talked with a bit of a slur.

"You've been drinking," I realized. He pinched his fingers together to say a little while I tentatively stepped closer to him. "And you're upset. Because of…Katherine."

"No," he sang with a smirk.

"Elizabeth? Did you think she would be back too?"

He stared at me with a new sort of intensity, like he was angry and hurt all at once and was trying to figure something out about me, before speaking.

"You've been dodging a certain topic all day. Now's the time to talk: why were you surprised that I tried to kiss you?"

"Damon. Now really isn't the time."

I really didn't want to discuss this with him after he'd been drinking.

"No, you've been running from it long enough. We're talking about this now," he firmly stated. "Tell me why."

"Damon, I-"

"Just say it, Sam."

I stayed silent for a moment, watching him in defeat as I knew he wasn't going to let this go anytime soon.

"Because…of Elizabeth," I eventually caved. "I was surprised because of your feelings for Elizabeth."

He nodded once, obviously already having guessed that was the reason. "You think you're her replacement."

"How could I not?" I said ruefully. "I look exactly like her and you've been in love with her for just over 145 years."

He stayed quiet for some time and for a second, I thought that he was really angry or hurt- maybe both- about what I said.

I stepped back in surprise when he suddenly rose to his feet, coming closer to me with a new type of fire in his beautiful blue eyes. He stopped just when our fronts were brushing against each other, craning his head downward so close that I could feel his breath fanning out on my face and smell the bourbon on him.

"You're the liar here, Sam. There's something going on here and you know it," he stated with hard eyes. "And it doesn't have anything to do with the feelings I had for Elizabeth- it has nothing to do with her, in general, and you're lying to yourself if you think it does. You know you are nothing like her and you know deep down that I would _never_ just use you as a replacement. And I can prove it."

Before I could stop him, he grabbed my face and pulled me in. His lips were on mine in a mind numbingly loving and passionate kiss that made every muscle in my body feel like jelly and my brain feel like it was out of order. I was too busy being concerned with whether or not my heart was going to burst out of my chest that I completely forgot about the fact that he had been drinking.

When that detail came back to light, I used what strength I had to push Damon back off just enough so that he was no longer kissing me, though he kept his vice grip on me.

"Damon, stop," I begged him. "Not like this. Not when you've been drinking."

I regretted saying it as soon as I saw the hurt in his eyes, but before I could say anything else, Jeremy came in to my room.

"Sam, what's going on in here?" he asked, glaring at Damon as if he was a demon and I knew it was because he was touching me.

"Nothing, Jeremy," I assured him, pulling myself out of Damon's grasp. "Just having a little talk. It's okay-"

"No it's not okay," Damon cut me off. I looked at him in confusion. "He wants to be a vampire."

"What?" I looked from him to Jeremy. "What are you talking about?"

"Another secret your big brother and sister kept from you," Damon replied.

All of a sudden, Damon sped toward Jeremy and had him pinned against the wall by his throat. Jeremy gagged, gasping for air, as he tried prying at Damon's hand to no avail while I ran up behind him.

"Damon, stop! Let him go!" I desperately shouted, my body shaking in fear.

"You want to shut out the pain? It's the easiest thing in the world. The part of you that cares, it just goes away!" he told Jeremy lowly, sounding like he was having an complete melt down. "All you have to do is flip the switch and snap!"

At the last word, Damon snapped Jeremy's neck and let him drop to the ground before I could even blink. Everything in me disappeared as Jeremy's limp body dropped to the ground. I felt hollow, like my world just shattered, and I all I could do was scream Jeremy's name in despair.

I dropped to my knees at Jeremy's side, cradling his head tightly in my arms, as I cried and shook. I hardly noticed when Damon left and it didn't even register in my mind when Elena came rushing in.

All I could think of was how Damon snapped my brother's neck. This couldn't be real. Damon would never do that- not to Jeremy, not to me…he couldn't have done it. That couldn't have just happened!

The sad thing was that it did happen. Damon did kill Jeremy and…and…

"Sam," Elena gasped.

I blinked and snapped my eyes to Jeremy's hand she was holding, my gaze falling on the shiny silver ring on his finger. The Gilbert ring.

Relief flooded through me and I settled down a bit, though I continued holding tightly on to my brother.

He would be okay. The only questions I had now were…what did Damon mean when he said that Jeremy wanted to be a vampire? And did he see the ring?

I hoped he did. I really hoped he did.

* * *

 **Third POV**

While Damon returned to the Salvatore boarding house, Stefan made his way to the Gilbert house after Elena called and hysterically told him that his brother just killed Jeremy. Though Jeremy would be okay, there was the possibility that Anna's blood would have an affect and put him in transition.

"He saw the ring, that's why he did it. He knew," Stefan stated, though anyone could see he wasn't fully convinced.

"He didn't see the ring," Elena denied while Sam numbly held on to Jeremy.

Sam's eyes closed, making more tears fall down her cheeks. She wanted to believe that Damon did see the ring, but there was a gut instinct telling her that he didn't.

"Katherine must have said something," Stefan tried. "She undid everything good about him."

"It was my fault," Sam spoke up then. "I set him off. I-"

"No, no, no, don't you dare blame yourself for this," Elena scolded her. "This was not you. This was all Damon's fault. There's nothing good about him, there never has been. He's decided what he wants. He doesn't want to feel, he just wants to be hated because it's easier that way for him."

* * *

Meanwhile, upon entering the living room, the full realization of what he'd really done came over Damon as he picked up his glass.

He killed Jeremy Gilbert. He killed the brother of the girl he'd fallen in love with…

Pain and regret surged through him as well as frustration and anger at himself and he threw his glass in to the fireplace, watching the glass shatter the way he knew Sam's heart did when she watched him kill her brother.

He truly screwed up now. Sam was forgiving and caring, but would she ever forgive him for this? Was this enough to make him lose her for good?

He knew he didn't deserve her, but he hoped to whatever God there was that he hadn't.

* * *

"I hate him, Stefan," Elena cried back at the Gilbert house.

While she wanted to say the same because it would certainly be easier, Sam couldn't. It was sick that she couldn't find even a shred of disdain for Damon in her, especially after what he just did, but…she just couldn't.

Suddenly, Jeremy gasped and began moving around in Sam's lap, making both her and Elena cry in relief.

"Is he okay? Is he okay?" Elena asked Stefan while Sam held on to Jeremy to calm his frantic spasms.

Stefan checked Jeremy and confirmed he was alright, as in not in transition, and assured Jeremy he was okay. Elena let out a loud sigh of relief and set her head on Jeremy's chest, hugging him tightly.

"He killed me!" a still shocked Jeremy said. "Damon killed me!"

Sam clung tightly on to him, grateful to feel him hugging her arm back, and kissed the top of his head.

"You're okay, it's okay," she cried in consolation.

That was what mattered to her right now. Damon could wait.

* * *

In a different part of town, Caroline Forbes slept in her hospital bed until she was awakened by discomfort. She opened her eyes and rubbed her face, turning to switch the TV off and jumped when she saw someone watching her.

"You scared me half to death," she said.

"Sorry about that. I just wanted to check up on you, see how you were doing."

"I'm much better," Caroline answered. "Thanks for caring, Sammy sweetheart."

"A Jersey Shore nickname?" Sam said with distaste. "Gosh, that's pathetic."

"Are you alright, Sam?" Caroline asked her, sensing the change of tone and attitude. Sam never would have said something like that.

"Sam" sighed, sitting down on the chair next to Caroline as she did.

"Have you ever had an ex, Caroline?" she asked, staring out in front of her. "What am I saying? Of course you have. Well there's the whole thing where you used to be the center of his world. Nothing was more important than you, not even himself. He would have died to be with you forever- hell, he did. You leave town for a while, come back, and then suddenly he's got a discount replacement of you and you don't mean a thing to him anymore."

"What are you talking about, Sam?" Caroline asked.

Truthfully, the girl was scaring her.

"Sam" looked at her and smiled, rising up from her chair with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure you'll be filled in soon enough. But first, I need you to give Stefan and Damon a message for me."

"What message?" Caroline asked.

"Sam" stood and leaned over her a little.

"Elizabeth is back," she said.

With speed to rival a panther, she snatched the pillow from the foot of Caroline's bed and pressed it over her face, suffocating Caroline. Caroline screamed and struggled, throwing her hands and arms around to move the pillow or loosen the other girl's grip, but eventually her fight died down as the last bit of oxygen left.

Caroline Forbes was dead.

Elizabeth moved the pillow away and walked out of the hospital room with a smirk on her face, leaving Caroline dead and to deal with her transition on her own.


	2. Sisters Reunite

**Okay, so don't kill me, but this is kind of a filler episode in third person centered around Katherine and Elizabeth meeting again for the first time since Katherine got out of the tomb. I didn't really want to try to squeeze in the Pierce sister reunion in to a chapter, so I just decided to make a whole chapter centered around them.**

 **Elizabeth's reasons for leaving Katherine will NOT be explained, nor does Katherine really want to hear her excuses, but there will be some info revealed about their past (such as who is the older vampire and how).**

 **I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Stay beautiful my lovelies!**

 **Love, Kathy**

* * *

Katherine Pierce walked purposely through the halls of the Mystic Falls hospital. Her mission was very clear in her mind and she was determined to see it through, no matter what bland nurse or doctor she had to compel out of her way.

She would not be leaving until Caroline Forbes, who currently had Damon Salvatore's vampire blood running through her system, was dead.

Stefan flat out rejected her in favor of that bland, boring, colorless, lifeless, tedious, uninteresting, rip off copy of her- Elena. God, the girl was such a bore- so lackluster and wishy-washy- and she had absolutely no taste. How Stefan ever fell in love with her, Katherine would never understand. She thought for sure he'd try to find himself another Elizabeth since he had been so attached to her, or at the very least come back to Katherine.

Sigh, but he chose to do this the hard way. Him and his brother both wanted her out of town and out of their lives, apparently they didn't understand that that wasn't an option, so she needed to send them a message that the game was on.

Poor Caroline would pay the price of not only serving as a message to Stefan and Damon, but she would also play the role of the sacrificial vampire when the time came. That ought to teach Stefan to reject her.

Honestly, Katherine could care less that Damon hated her and rejected her offer of mutual sexual release. She knew his head was too far up little miss baby Gilbert's ass to take Katherine up on her booty call. She wouldn't be surprised if he even turned Elizabeth, herself, down although it could be argued that Damon saw Samantha as a replacement.

Katherine would have to watch them longer in order to really figured that out for herself. Damon seemed to genuinely care about Sam, but considering that her sister had yet to make an appearance…that could change.

However, Katherine couldn't deny that there was something…different about Damon. No, not the fact that he was a vampire and was much more sarcastic and…temperamental than he had been before. Damon wasn't where the changes were.

The changes were in the way Damon looked at Sam. The way his eyes softened each time he saw her, the way his voice turned gentle every time he spoke to her, and the way his body seemed to naturally gravitate toward her and he turned protective each time he perceived her to be in danger.

He seemed like he had been in the dark for so long after Katherine got locked in the tomb and her bitch sister took off, yet every time Sam came around, he seemed like he saw the light for the first time in over a century.

Though, Katherine would never understand that attraction either. Sam seemed as lifeless and boring as her sister, but she was worse in the sense that she allowed her older sister to blatantly lie to her and walk all over her. Oh, if only Elizabeth could see how her little look-a-like turned out.

Slowing outside the chatty blonde's hospital room, Katherine realized that there was something missing. Something that should have been loud, clear, consistent…

Why couldn't she hear Caroline's heart beat?

Throwing the door open, Katherine marched in to the room and eyed the area as she walked to the unconscious, motionless Caroline's side. When she noticed that there was no signs that she was breathing, Katherine placed her fingers on Caroline's wrist, checking for a pulse, then pulled back when she found none.

Caroline Forbes was dead. And not by her own doing.

Katherine retracted her hand slowly once she detected _her_ presence. The presence of the person she'd been searching for since she was freed from the tomb, but now suddenly didn't even want to look at.

"I figured you'd be making a stop here."

Her voice was the same. Light, tinkling, charming, and girly. The few men who didn't fall prey to her beauty alone were finished at the sound of her voice, enslaved by the sweetness her tone emphasized on the words she spoke with her silver tongue.

"Elizabeth," Katherine said unsurprised without looking at her.

"Hello sister," Elizabeth greeted cheerfully. "It's been a while."

"Quite a while."

"Won't you even look at me? You've been away for over a century. That's too long a time for you to not properly greet me."

White hot anger suddenly filled Katherine and she saw red. Gripping Caroline's bed bars so tightly that they crushed, Katherine did her best to maintain her composure.

"If I look at you," Katherine spoke, seething. "I may just kill you."

"Oh you don't mean that," Elizabeth said, heels clicking as she stepped further in to the room. "I'm your little sister. You love me too much!"

"I wouldn't bet on it," Katherine spat. "Where the hell have you been, anyway? Why are you making an appearance now? And why this way?"

"Well I've always been one for dramatic entrances. You know that," Elizabeth started. "As for why I'm making an appearance now…well, I think you know the answer to that. It's the same reason you're here."

Her steps got closer, but Katherine continued staring forward. She knew sooner or later Elizabeth would reach the other side of Caroline's bed and she would have no choice but to look at the sister she detested or look elsewhere.

She still had time to decide.

"So you killed Caroline because you're unsatisfied with your replacement," Katherine decided to mess with Elizabeth. "How is it that she looks exactly like you?"

Elizabeth gave no sign that she knew, but Katherine knew that was a lie. Elizabeth knew her lineage, she knew every reason why that girl was a copy of her. She just was playing her usual games.

Katherine brushed it off, choosing to ignore it since it didn't matter for now, and continued. "In any case, Damon does seem to like her a lot more than he did you."

"I can't help thinking that bothers you a lot more than it should bother me," Elizabeth giggled. "After all, that was quite cruel of you to tell him that I never loved him or Stefan. Are you sure you weren't just lashing out because he and Stefan hurt your feelings?"

Katherine finally snapped.

Releasing the bed bar, she whirled around and sped toward Elizabeth, clenching her hand around her throat and slamming her against the wall in a very similar manner to how she pinned Bonnie Bennett earlier.

This, Katherine realized after, was the first time she was facing her sister in over 100 years and Elizabeth's look evolved to fit with modern times. Instead of a long, beautifully made gown just for her, Elizabeth wore a flared cream white skirt and a long loose sleeve light pink shirt with indigo patterns accompanied by a dark brown skinny belt and nude pumps.

Katherine noted, to no surprise, that Elizabeth's style could be classified as it always was: glamorous and sophisticated.

Clothing aside, her little sister looked exactly the same otherwise. She had the same deceivingly innocent round blue-green eyes, the same curly dark brown hair, the same pale porcelain complexion, and the same full pouty pink lips. She was the same height as she had always been, though a bit taller at the moment due to the heels of her shoes.

It was only now that she was looking at Elizabeth again that she could see the differences in her and Sam. For one, Elizabeth's hair was a couple shades darker than Sam's and was curly while Sam's was wavy. The second physical difference was their eyes. There was a heavy dose of mischief and…darkness within Elizabeth's eyes. Only when you knew her as well as Katherine did could you see the missing sense of emotion, of humanity, in Elizabeth's eyes.

Then again, they've almost always been that way.

Elizabeth didn't react with pain or shock to being viciously attacked by her sister and instead smiled and laughed at Katherine.

"I've missed you too, sis," she sarcastically said, grinning up beautifully at a furious Katherine. "Jeez, that's how you greet me after all these years? I know I said the first greeting wasn't proper, but this is a step back."

"You left me to be trapped in a tomb for over a century!" Katherine hissed. "You're lucky I don't kill you where you stand."

"Ah ha, that's not your style," Elizabeth chuckled, not the least bit phased. "You'd want to drag my death out. Make me suffer as much as possible in order to get revenge. You share that with him, you know."

Katherine growled and squeezed Elizabeth's throat tighter at the mention of _him_ , earning yet another chuckle from Elizabeth.

"Honey, squeeze all you want. You and I both know who the stronger one is here."

With that, Elizabeth seized Katherine's wrist and applied pressure, making Katherine slowly release her throat from the pain surging through her wrist. Elizabeth squeezed and squeezed until Katherine was on her knees, her wrist on the brink of breaking.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I didn't come here to fight," Elizabeth drawled, sounding bored. "As much as you like to screw around, I know you do know why I'm really here."

She kept her grip on Katherine's wrist and Katherine had to fight against letting out a cry of pain as she gave it a painful twist as punishment for not giving an answer right away.

"Yes," she finally answered.

"Good. So we don't need to go through the whole explaining process," Elizabeth said.

She finally released Katherine's wrist, much to Katherine's relief. She cradled her wrist to her chest, rubbing it soothingly as she glared at Elizabeth and stood.

Elizabeth simply smiled sweetly back at her.

"I was thinking we could work together," she said. "Considering we did piss off the same dangerous immortal vampire."

"You do know that would require you telling me the truth, right? It would require I trust you, as well."

"Can you honestly say you've always trusted me?"

"No, of course not, but there was a period of time when I did. Long before you locked me up," Katherine replied with irk.

Elizabeth groaned and rolled her eyes in pure annoyance.

"Such an ugly way to put it. Are you going to hold that against me forever?" she questioned. "Alright, yes. I locked you up, but believe it or not that was for your own good. At least you were safe down there. Starving and mummifying, but safe."

"That has nothing to do why you did what you did and you know it. You were being selfish. That's all."

"Oh and you weren't? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you plotted with me to out all those vampires and have them "burned" in order to fake our deaths. That seems pretty selfish to me, _Katerina_."

Katherine winced at the use of her real name, but pulled herself together quickly.

"Well, _Elisaveta_ , I wasn't exactly expecting you to turn on me of all people. Pearl and Emily, yes. I never thought you were heartless enough to betray me, your own sister," she retorted.

Elizabeth shrugged. "Not by blood, let me remind you. And you should know better than to underestimate what I'm willing to do to survive. You share that in common with me, so you should know better."

"I would never have betrayed you the way you betrayed me," Katherine argued stonily. "Despite our differences, I genuinely cared about you. You were my sister. I loved you."

Elizabeth kissed her teeth and walked over to Caroline's bedside.

"Again…not by blood," she pointed out. "Count yourself lucky. You don't know how many close shaves I've had since you've been away-"

"Locked up," Katherine corrected.

"Yes, locked up. You being _locked up_ , as you seem to be so fond of saying, has given you the chance to stay hidden whereas I've had to kill quite a few people in order to keep my status as definitely alive and well a secret."

"You poor thing," Katherine commented dryly.

"Yes, poor me. Anyway, my point is this: let's let bygones be bygones. Forgive and forget. We need to work together in order to reach our shared goal because I have information you don't and you-"

"Can act as your puppet? Not a chance," Katherine snapped. "I'm done working with you and I sure as hell would never work _for_ you. I'm nobody's lackey. Especially not yours."

"Well, that is sad," Elizabeth sighed. "But I suppose if that's how you feel, I have no right to make you change your mind."

"Glad you understand. I'll be working alone from here on out. I'll get everything prepared my way and when he comes, I'll be more than happy to point out which direction you went in."

Elizabeth laughed heartily. "Oh I'm not worried about that any more. That's where the information I have that you don't have comes in."

Katherine stared at Elizabeth angrily for a moment before pushing past her out the door without saying anything more. Caroline was already dead, there was no reason for her to be there anymore. Plus she really didn't want to be around Elizabeth any longer.

She had gotten halfway down the hall before Elizabeth called her name.

"What?"

"If you're honestly planning on working alone, I would tread carefully. There are more eyes watching in Mystic Falls than even you are aware of."

Turning back to look at her, Katherine furrowed her eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

Elizabeth smirked. "Just what it means. Mind your step. She's being watched or… _protected_ , as some would say."

Katherine didn't reply and turned away once more, continuing down the hall to leave this disgusting building and her sister's unbearable presence.

"It really was good to see you again, sis!" Elizabeth called after her. "The 21st century looks quite good on you."

"Go to hell."

"If I ever die, I'll send you a postcard."

Katherine rushed out of the hospital after that and immediately took her anger out on a nurse arriving late for her shift.

 _Elizabeth_ , she thought as she drained the quieting woman dry. _What are you planning?_

Only time would tell, she supposed. She only hoped she completed her own plan and was able to figure out Elizabeth's before she managed to reach her goal first.

Elizabeth would die. If not by Katherine's own hands, then by Klaus's.

Katherine would see to it herself that Elizabeth met her end if it was the last thing she did, kinship be dammed.

Not like they were really related anyway.


	3. Brave New World

**Fave Song- All This Time by OneRepublic**

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Chastity loudly said.

She and I were working together on preparing for tonight's carnival by making sure everything was where they were supposed to be and all the rides were functioning the way they should in addition to making sure we had enough prizes and food stocked for the night. Meanwhile Elena had taken over Caroline's role and was working with Bonnie to complete her half while Caroline was still in the hospital.

I had just finished telling Chastity about…the incident with Damon and Jeremy and now it seemed that I would have to prepare myself for Chastity's wrath.

"Damon… _killed_ Jeremy. And he's still alive?" she asked me incredulously.

"Yes, Chas, he's still alive," I answered.

"Why didn't you kill him on the spot?"

I gave her a questioning look.

"What makes you think I even could have?" I replied. "I'm not exactly the killing type."

"Maybe you should be," she said quietly, toying with the box of popcorn bags in her hand.

The girl in charge of the balloon dart toss came over for the rest of her booth's darts and I quickly handed them over to her before turning back to my best friend.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked calmly.

She sighed and stepped closer to me, lowering her voice as she spoke. "Damon is dangerous. He's proven that. Moreover, he's proven he doesn't give a damn who it is, he'll kill anyone when he's in a bad mood. Not only that, but your sister's freaky vampire twin is cruising around town posing as her and she's fooled not only Olivia, Bonnie, and I, but you and Damon too."

I licked my lips and shifted uncomfortably as she continued.

"It just seems to me that you should be prepared for any situation. Things are getting dangerous. You can't exactly afford to be the _non_ -killing type."

I stepped back slowly, staring at her with a new feeling toward her I didn't recognize.

This was Chastity, my best friend, and she was telling me…that I should be ready to kill if I had to. She talked about so…openly, so casually, like it wasn't something that should be complicated or hard to think about.

"Let's just…not talk about this," I said clearing my throat as I gestured to the area around us. "Not the time, definitely not the place."

She blinked once and pressed her lips together, nodding her head affirmatively.

"Right," was all she said.

I sent her a small smile before turning my attention back to my clipboard, marking off the balloons I'd handed over as delivered.

Even though I wasn't completely sure I wanted to, I figured it would be best to return to the matter Chastity brought up later- if at all. For now, it was time to act like a normal human teenage girl.

Even if my situation was anything but normal.

* * *

 **Third POV**

After not-so-subtly suggesting to Sam that she should learn how to kill vampires, Chastity decided to head back home from the carnival setup. She needed time and space to clear her head after her close shave with a meltdown in front of Sam. She didn't know what had come over her, only that she was angry- furious, really- with Damon for killing Jeremy in front of Sam of all people.

There was also the matter of that overwhelming sensation that she was being suffocated. It came quite literally out of nowhere. One second, she was conversing with Sam about Damon and Jeremy and Katherine and the next…she felt uncomfortable, like there was an unnatural, dangerous darkness in the area.

She knew that the feeling was familiar, she just didn't know where from. Or who.

As soon as she got home, she went straight to her room and nearly had a heart attack when she saw who was sitting on her bed waiting for her.

"Hello Chastity."

The look in her eyes, the darkness, the suffocating feeling…she was sensing Elizabeth before and now she was here.

Again.

"Elizabeth," Chastity greeted her back stiffly. "What a surprise."

"Is it really, Chassy, dear?"

Elizabeth rose from the bed and walked up to Chastity, her heels clicking against the floor almost menacingly. Chastity, though she was scared out of her mind, did her best to maintain calm and unthreatened demeanor.

"What do you want?" Chastity asked.

"You should know why I'm here," Elizabeth answered. "You have been a very chatty little birdie."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Chastity lied smoothly. "I haven't said anything to anyone."

"No, but you're slipping. You'll end up saying something soon enough if you don't bite your tongue," Elizabeth retorted.

Chastity sighed, knowing what Elizabeth was pissed about.

"Sam should know how to defend herself in general," she defended. "I didn't say it in reference to you."

"Honey, I wouldn't have cared either way," Elizabeth scoffed. "My problem stems from the fact that you are going to end up giving far too much away far too soon. I can't have little miss mini me putting all the pieces together before I'm ready for her to, now can I? That would just screw my plans up and it would be an awful lot of work to come up with a new one, not to mention it would be a ton of work gone to waste."

"I haven't said anything that would imply I know you," Chastity argued. "As far as everyone knows, I was as shocked as they were when they found out you look exactly like Sam."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and walked around the room, brushing her fingers lightly against the drawers of Chastity's dresser.

"Chassy, you know you've been a very valuable asset to me over the past year," she sighed. "And to think, if you simply had been born to a different family…you never would have had to vow your life to me."

Chastity looked down, gritting her teeth and- for once- cursing her ancestors for essentially making the blonde Elizabeth's puppet.

When she first met Elizabeth a year ago, it hadn't been so bad. She had been the one to help Chastity find out she was a witch. She encouraged her to learn how to use her powers and encouraged her to, when the time came, help Bonnie learn how to use hers. She also encouraged Chastity to protect Sam by not saying anything to her or anyone else about Elizabeth's existence. She was sweet to Chastity, kind, and overall a good friend.

At first.

It didn't take Chastity long to figure out Elizabeth's true nature. A twisted, selfish, manipulative, borderline sociopathic bitch who cared for nothing and no one but herself. Elizabeth wanted nothing from Chastity but her power, something Chastity soon found was entirely replaceable, and her inside intel on Sam and the others.

It made Chastity feel rotten, reporting everything that happened from the vampires being freed from the tomb to Caroline being given Damon's blood. She felt like a traitor to her own best friend, but there wasn't anything she could do. She was trapped in Elizabeth's web and all because her family was indebted to Elizabeth's.

"Now, in order to save yourself here, I need you to do something for me-"

"Elizabeth-"

"-and I expect you to do it because you are in no position to deny me," Elizabeth continued over Chastity's interruption. "But if you want reassurances, it's nothing that would cause anyone any physical harm."

"…physical harm?" Chastity echoed in confusion.

Elizabeth sighed impatiently as if explaining what she meant would be the most inconvenient bother in the world, which to Elizabeth it most likely would be.

"I can't promise Sammy will come out emotionally unharmed," she clarified. "She's a sensitive little girl and the truth has a habit of hurting."

Chastity stepped toward her hopefully. "Does this have to do with her adoption?"

Elizabeth smirked, obviously amused by Chastity's reaction. She knew that Chastity wanted to help Sam find out about her real family, especially since she knew that Elena would keep it covered up when and if she ever found out first.

"Take a seat, eager beaver," she instructed. "And listen carefully because if you so much as screw the slightest detail up, I'll put you in so much pain that you'll beg me to kill you."

* * *

 **Sam's POV**

That night, at a very successful carnival thus far, I walked around the grounds managing the booths and making sure everything was working and everyone was having a good time when I was suddenly joined by Olivia.

"Doing your thing again?" she asked me.

"Thing?" I repeated, passing over a new bag of prizes to the ring toss.

"You know. That thing where you keep yourself busy so you don't have to think about something you don't want to think about. For example, you're immersing yourself in this carnival work in order to avoid thinking about the fact that Damon killed Jeremy."

My eyes widened and I looked around, feeling grateful that no one was around to hear her say that so carelessly. I started walking away from the crowds.

"Can we not talk about that so loudly in public?" I requested gently. "Have you seen your sister?"

"That was an awful deflection and she's home. She's not feeling well."

I faltered for a second. Chastity wasn't feeling well? She seemed fine earlier…

Before I could question it, Olivia spoke again.

"Just…tell me," she stopped me from walking any more. I turned to her solemnly. "Everyone can tell that you're off, they just don't know why and know better to ask because they know the answer they'll get. I, on the other hand, know exactly what's bothering you. You've barely spoken to Elena or Stefan, Bonnie hasn't gotten anything from you and neither has Chastity, so I'm going to ask how the Damon thing is bothering you and I'm going to get an honest answer from you whether you like it or not. So start talking, kid."

I chewed on my lip, debating whether or not I should really tell Olivia what it was that was bothering me about the Damon incident.

The first was obvious. Damon killed my brother- he killed Jeremy. Whether it was in the heat of the moment or not, he snapped Jeremy's neck like it was nothing. I didn't know if he saw the ring on Jeremy's finger or not, but I was hoping with all that I had that he did see it.

On second thought, Damon was under the impression that he was turning Jeremy in to a vampire, though, I doubted he did. So that's that. Damon didn't see the ring.

Suddenly, my heart felt five times heavier than before.

The second part bothering me was that…I couldn't bring myself to hate Damon for it. As angry as I was with him, I couldn't hate him like Elena did. It was sick because I should hate him more than anyone considering the fact that I felt so close to him and he was able to turn around and kill Jeremy just like that and I just…couldn't.

The third thing bothering me had nothing to do with Damon, but everything to do with what he said. Jeremy wanted to be a vampire and Damon thought he was turning him in to one. Jeremy never once told me that he wanted to be a vampire. It was something I would have remembered.

But Damon said that that was another secret Elena and Jeremy were keeping from me. Meaning Jeremy must have said something to Elena or worse…actually _tried_ to become a vampire and Elena knew. Why wouldn't they tell me, though? Why would they keep something like that from me?

I knew that Jeremy was heartbroken when Anna was taken, but Damon never said he saw her in the basement the night of the fire. He only ever assumed that she was down there since that's where all the rest of the vampires were. There was still some hope that she could be out there.

Then again, that's just my theory.

"Sam."

I looked at Olivia, who was patiently waiting for me to talk. I was surprised. Normally she would have left by now.

"Fine," I caved. "But not here. We should go somewhere else."

"Lead the way then."

* * *

Later after finding Alaric's classroom to be empty- and I have no idea why I chose his classroom, just that it felt safest if someone were to come in- I explained all that I was thinking to Olivia. Well, everything excluding the possible feelings I had for Damon and my struggles to find contempt for him.

"So…Damon said that Jeremy wants to be a vampire?" she clarified. "That's what- that's what Jeremy wanted?"

"Seems that way," I sighed.

"And Damon thought he was turning him in to one?"

"I would guess."

"But Jeremy had the ring on…so he didn't die."

"Right."

"And what's bothering you is that you don't know whether or not Damon saw the ring-"

"After I thought about it more, I figured he didn't. If he thought Jeremy was going to turn, he would have to think he was going to die. No point in…killing him in the first place if the ring was on, that or Damon would take it off before he killed him."

The words were like poison in my mouth. Damon, kill, and Jeremy were words I never wanted to use in the same sentence.

"Right, so Damon didn't see the ring then," Olivia stated. "He betrayed you."

"He didn't-"

"He killed your brother without batting an eye because you refused to kiss him. Because your freaky vampire twin was the one he was obsessed with for years and you got the natural feeling that Damon was trying to use you to replace her- and yes, that feeling is natural. When someone starts hitting on you and they have a romantic history with someone who is a mirror image of you, it's natural. Truth be told, I hope I never meet her. I still have chills from meeting Katherine."

"I know the feeling," I told her.

I still had shivers from meeting Katherine and I was even more disturbed at the fact that she managed to fool me. I didn't know how I would react if I ever came face-to-face with Elizabeth and I was worried for when- and if- Elena ever met Katherine.

"Elena's been keeping secrets from you," Olivia moved on. "That's what it all comes down to. Damon aside, Jeremy and Elena have been keeping secrets from you and you've had enough."

I sighed and leaned back against Alaric's desk, crossing my arms across my chest securely.

"No," I said non-too-convincingly. "I just…I want to understand…why. Why do they think they need to keep me in the dark? I know that Elena wants to protect me and I don't blame her for keeping my adoption from me, but Jeremy trying to become a vampire is an entirely different matter. I deserved to know. I just…I just wish they told me."

Maybe this was how Jeremy felt when I kept the fact that he was compelled from him. Maybe I did deserve to be lied to then. Maybe this was karma at work.

"Look," Olivia stood from her desk seat and walked up to me, placing both hands on my shoulders. "You don't deserve to be lied to. Especially not by the people who should be more honest with you than anyone. Demand answers from them, don't settle for lies. That includes everyone else too."

"Everyone else?" I repeated. "What do you mean? Who else should I be demanding answers from?"

She pressed her lips together and dropped her hands.

"No one," she clearly lied. "I…I should get going. This was a good talk. Glad you didn't keep everything bottled up- if you want to talk again, you know where to find me, etc…etc."

Not waiting for me to respond, she hastily made her exit from the classroom, leaving me alone and feeling more confused than ever before.

What was that all about?

* * *

After my meeting with Olivia, I met up with Elena to get all the carnival workers signed in and briefed on what they were supposed to do. I had just signed the last volunteer in when I felt someone's presence beside me. A presence that made me tense up the slightest bit.

"Sam," Damon said.

"Damon," I greeted curtly.

I looked away when I caught the glint of hurt in his eyes in response to my tone. He wasn't used to this, me being distant with him. In fact, it only just occurred to me that I've never really been this mad at him.

"What do you want, Damon?" Elena demanded coldly, stepping up behind me.

"I know I'm the last person either of you want to see right now, but I need you both to come with me," he replied.

I observed him for a moment. Elena obviously didn't sense it, given her response that she wasn't interested and that she and I weren't going anywhere with him, but there was an urgent tone to his request. It was hidden by his usual cool facade, but I could still detect it. What did that say about me?

"Yeah, you can stay if you like. But Sam, I need you to come with me right _now_ ," he stressed.

He stared at me intensely as though he was silently trying to communicate the urgency and seriousness of whatever situation came up. This wasn't the time to be pondering over what I should do or how I should feel about him. Something was happening.

"Okay," I agreed. "What's going on?"

* * *

I sat in a desk, soaking in the news Elena, Stefan, and I had just been told, but having trouble believing it.

This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

Caroline was a vampire. She had apparently been killed somewhere in the twenty-four hours after Damon fed her blood- most likely during the late night or early morning hours- by…

Well, according to Damon, Caroline gave him a message from a girl who looked exactly like me.

Elizabeth is back.

Elizabeth, as in the one without a doubt is the one who killed Caroline and the one who was a replica of me.

Words couldn't even begin to explain how confused I was. Why was Elizabeth back now? Why did she do this to Caroline? How could she have done that to Caroline? She's innocent, she has absolutely nothing to do with anything that's happened- she didn't even remember anything about Damon or vampires before Elizabeth killed her!

My heart clenched when I thought of how confused and scared Caroline must be. She went through the transition alone and she had no idea what was even happening to her. Plus- given what Damon and Stefan said about their transitions before- all the memories Damon compelled away started coming back, so that was more pain piled on. True Caroline wasn't the nicest person around, but she didn't deserve any of this.

"How did this happen?" Stefan questioned as he paced back and forth in Alaric's classroom.

"Well, I fed her blood and Elizabeth obviously killed her, and A plus B equals…" Damon replied in his usual sassy manner.

"But why?" Elena questioned.

"Because Elizabeth is a manipulative, nasty little slut who likes making grand entrances and more often than not does things for no reason- hurts people for no reason."

"Crazy to think just months ago you worshipped the ground she walked on," Stefan said.

"She had to have had a reason," I spoke up, sensing Damon's annoyance at Stefan and not wanting a fight between them now. I stood and began pacing. "You don't do something like that without a reason. Elizabeth wants us to know she's back, but why? What is she up to? Why did she go after Caroline? I mean, how did she even know…"

I trailed off when a thought came to me. What if she was doing this to hurt someone? What if she had been watching all along and somewhere along the way, someone upset her and now she was trying to get back at them? Who though?

"We'd be better off trying to figure out a Rubix cube than trying to figure Elizabeth out," Damon said to me.

A Rubix cube I could do without a problem. This, on the other hand…

"Caroline must be so scared," I sympathetically thought out loud.

"She must be going out of her mind," Stefan agreed. "She doesn't even know what's happening to her."

"Oh, I think she does," Damon said, which earned a questioning look from Stefan and Elena. "All of my compulsion from the past started wearing off the minute she was in transition."

"We have to find her," Stefan stated then.

"Yep," Damon nodded. "And kill her."

My head snapped toward him. "We can't kill her."

"We are not killing Caroline," Elena said at the same time.

"She knows who we are," Damon pointed out while Elena looked to Stefan, horrified. "She's officially a liability and we've got to get rid of her."

"Damon, absolutely not," Stefan said with finality.

"Need I remind you of a tragic little story of a girl named Vicki Donovan?" I swallowed uncomfortably as the memories of Vicki returned while Damon continued. "Yeah. Caroline, of all people, will not make it as a vampire. Her mother's a vampire _hunter_. Guys, come on. We all know how this story ends, so let's just flip to the last chapter and-"

"It's not an option, Damon," Elena spoke sternly, her voice cracking a little.

"No? Your silence is deafening, Stefan." I followed Damon's hard eyes to Stefan, who looked too conflicted for comfort. Damon then pretended to be in deep thought. "Wait, wasn't there a school carnival the night you staked Vicki? Talk about a town where history repeats itself."

"Damon, Caroline is different than Vicki was," I said then. "We can help her. It doesn't have to end that way. We can do things differently."

"Sam, as endearing as your optimism is, there is no helping her. Caroline's mother, again, is a vampire hunter."

"And you've kept your secret. You've hidden the fact that you're a vampire from her for this long, why can't Caroline do the same?" I directed my pleading eyes to Stefan. "As long as we help her, she'll be okay, right? I mean, you helped Vicki and she was okay for a while."

"She wasn't fine, Sam. She almost killed your brother and sister and she could have killed you," Damon stated seriously. "Caroline isn't going to be any different."

"Like I said, she's different than Vicki. Vicki already had issues with her impulse, Caroline doesn't," I argued, turning fully to him. "Please…we just…we have to try, at least. We can't kill her."

He stared down at me for what felt like years, conflict and what seemed like agony glimmering in his eyes, before he forcibly blinked and looked away from me.

"Stefan…" Elena whispered.

Stefan walked up beside me and pointed a stern finger at Damon. "We're not gonna kill her."

He walked out of the classroom then, clearly frustrated by the events, and Damon turned his attention back to me.

"It's the only way," he told me gently.

I shook my head and followed Elena out of the classroom. It couldn't be the only way. I regretted not being able to help Vicki, I wasn't about to let Caroline go down the same path. Besides, I didn't want the people I loved to suffer another loss and I didn't want to lose anyone else either.

* * *

I searched around the carnival with my sister and Stefan for Caroline at Elena's insistence that I stay by her and Stefan for safety. Nothing much had been said between us. It wasn't for lack of trying, the friction that already existed just was amplified by the fact that our friend was currently going through a life changing transition alone and it was caused by my ancestor, who was very suddenly back in town.

We walked quickly, scanning the area for any sign of Caroline or anyone who could have seen Caroline.

"You agree with Damon, don't you?" Elena asked Stefan suddenly.

He paused to punch a ticket booth, forming a large dent with his brute strength, before walking to the other side.

"Stefan," I said concerned.

"Damon's right," he huffed aggravated, leaning against the other side of the booth. "Not about what we should do, but about what's gonna happen. Elizabeth all but signed Caroline's death sentence."

"It won't end that way," I protested. "We can't let it."

"Sam's right," Elena nodded. "Why is Elizabeth even doing this? Is it because of me or Sam? Or both of us?"

"I have no idea," Stefan confessed. "If it had been Katherine, it could have been easier to figure out. Elizabeth…we need to figure it out before it's too late, in addition to trying to figure out what Katherine's up to and if they're working together."

Elena and I both nodded in agreement.

"Let's focus on finding Caroline and helping her for now," I spoke up. "We can worry about the rest later."

We continued our search for Caroline and the longer we walked, the more I felt my concern and worry for her grow.

Stefan stopped suddenly, turning his head in a way that signaled he sensed something Elena and I couldn't.

"Stefan?" Elena called.

"What is it?" I asked him. "Can you hear her?"

Anticipation built up in me when he stayed silent for couple seconds before answering.

"Blood. I can smell blood."

* * *

We got to where Caroline was in time for Stefan to stop Damon from killing her.

While he shoved Damon back and knocked the stake from his hand, Elena and I tended to Caroline, whose face was full of blood. Oh no…

My face paled and I glanced over at the body on top of the bed of a truck.

"Caroline-"

"Get away from me!" she shouted hysterically as she shoved me away from her. "You killed me!"

I quickly overcame the momentary confusion and hurt and shook my head, pleading her to understand. "No, no, that wasn't me Caroline. You know I would never hurt you, that was Elizabeth."

"No! Then why does she look like you?!" Caroline cried. "Why- Why did she do this to me?!"

I slowly reached out to her. "Caroline, it's going to be okay. We'll help you."

"Why do you smell like that?"

My face fell. "Smell like what?"

The tell-tale purple veins of a hungry vampire appeared around her eyes as she stared at me hungrily.

"I'm sorry," she cried softly.

"Caroline, don't!" Elena yelled.

Before Caroline could lunge at me, Stefan stopped her and held her back while Damon appeared in front of me.

"Stefan, we've got to get her inside," Elena spoke shakily, trying to soothe a struggling Caroline.

"It's alright, Caroline," Stefan promised her. "Let's get you inside. Get you cleaned up."

He began to lead her away toward the school with Elena. I attempted to follow, but Damon grabbed my arm before I could completely pass him.

"She will die. It's only a matter of time," Damon cautioned.

"Yeah, maybe so, but it's not gonna happen tonight," Stefan called back with a final glare toward Damon.

"Oh yeah it is."

Faster than I could blink, Damon picked up the stake and went after Caroline, prepared to plunge the stake in to her chest. I instinctively moved to block Caroline, shielding her from Damon.

He stilled immediately, freezing mid-strike. His eyes stared deeply down in to mine in a silent communication telling me to move, a message I obviously wasn't going to heed.

"Damon, please," I begged him. "She's my friend."

I couldn't lose anyone else and I couldn't let Elena, Bonnie, and Matt lose Caroline- especially Matt. He's lost enough already.

Eventually, Damon lowered his hand with the stake and pointed warningly behind me to Stefan.

"Whatever happens," he began. "It's on you. If anything happens to her-" He pointed to me. "-Caroline dies."

I kept my eyes glued to Damon, even when Stefan and Elena began moving toward the school again with Caroline. I needed to make Damon understand that Caroline wouldn't hurt me, that she wasn't a threat. I just didn't know how I would do that with how stubborn he was.

"Caroline?"

The small, timid voice made me whirl around and gasp silently.

Bonnie. She shouldn't have to see this. Caroline wouldn't want her to see her like this.

Bonnie resembled someone having a nightmare. The way she looked at Caroline with anguish and denial…it was like she couldn't believe it was really happening.

She shook her head. "No, you're not. You can- you can't be."

She hurried up to Caroline and touched her arm, pulling back slowly after a moment with a new look of pure horror.

"Bonnie," Caroline called sadly and quietly.

Bonnie only stepped back and shook her head before she caught sight of the man on the bed. "Oh god."

While Bonnie mourned the man Elena quietly told me was named Carter and whom Bonnie had been interested in, Elena and Stefan led a distraught Caroline in to the school.

"Just stay out here with Bonnie, Sam. Until we can calm Caroline down," Elena instructed me.

Damon ignored her and turned around to face me. Clearly he was bothered by my lack of reaction to Caroline trying to attack me and he set his hands on my shoulders.

"Did you really think it was a good idea for you to try to go with them?" he asked.

"She's confused, Damon," I told him. "She has no idea what's happening. All she knows is that she's turned in to something and she was killed by someone who looks exactly like me. I'd say she had a reason to react the way she did."

"She could have killed you," Damon argued. "When she commented on how you smell, it wasn't because she liked your perfume. She wanted your blood."

"She's a new vampire. She just needs time to adjust. Caroline would never hurt me."

He pressed his lips together in a firm line. "You happen to have a habit of putting your trust in the wrong people."

I looked up at him seriously. "Were you the wrong person?"

He silently stared down at me with an unreadable expression.

I turned my head over to Bonnie, then, who was still standing by the bed of the truck, mourning Carter. I walked up beside her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," I promised her.

It has to be.

* * *

A few minutes later and Bonnie and I were still standing in the same area, now away from the truck where Carter lay, trying to figure out what we were going to do from here, when Damon walked up with a shovel over his shoulder.

"I can't believe this is happening," Bonnie expressed, sounding completely out of it.

"Come on," he unsympathetically said. "Don't pout about it. We got a body to bury here."

"Damon," I sighed.

"I'm not sorry. She knew him for what? Two seconds? Not like he was her soulmate," he retorted before heading over to the truck. "Sucks to be you, buddy."

Suddenly the shovel dropped out of his hand and his face contorted with pain. He fell to the ground, groaning in pain and clutching his hand, very similarly to how Stefan did when…

My head snapped to Bonnie, who was sending Damon a concentrated glare.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" I asked alarmed.

Water sputtered out of a nearby hose, leaking out in a path to Damon as Bonnie ignored me and spoke to him.

"I told you what would happen if anyone else got hurt," she said coldly.

"I didn't do this!" Damon defended himself through his pain.

"Bonnie, this wasn't his fault," I spoke up frantically.

"Everything that happens is his fault, Sam," she asserted, sparing me a glance before turning back to Damon.

I quickly caught on to what she was planning. She was already going further than she had before and the reminder she gave Damon…she was going to kill him.

"Bonnie, you can't kill him!"

Fire sparked from the water, trailing down the path that was created earlier to Damon, moving as quickly as it would in gasoline.

It reached Damon's leg, earning a scream of pain and panic from the elder Salvatore. He tried to pat it out, but to no avail as it kept spreading.

"Bonnie!" I tried calling again, staring down at the line of fire now dividing her and I when she didn't respond.

I swallowed hard, realizing what I needed to do. Taking a step back, I prepared myself to do it.

"Sam-"

I jumped as high as I could over the fire, letting out a silent sigh of relief at not having caught fire myself.

"Bonnie!" I called, running up to her. "Bonnie, stop!"

I grabbed her arms and forced her to look at me, breaking her concentration on the fire and Damon and putting some of the fire out.

"Why- why did you stop me?!" she asked, frustrated as she broke herself out of my grip.

"Because this isn't you!" I said. "This isn't _us_ and it can't be. Besides, what happened tonight wasn't his fault- it was Elizabeth."

"You're defending him?" she asked, not as shocked as she was annoyed. "After what he did to Jeremy?"

I pressed my lips together and took a deep breath. "I'm angry at him for what he did, yes, but that doesn't mean I want him to die- much less do I want him to die. Not only that, I don't want you to be the one to kill him because, like I said, that's not who you are."

She sniffled and broke out in tears again, but she nodded, agreeing with me. I embraced her shaking form and glanced over my shoulder at Damon, who was on the ground with his legs completely scorched, but was alright otherwise.

After receiving a small nod from him, a silent assurance he was okay and would heal, I left with Bonnie.

* * *

Later, at home, I paced around my room, rolling a pencil between my hands as I thought carefully about the events that have occurred lately.

Katherine was back, Elizabeth was back, Caroline was turned in to a vampire, Bonnie almost killed Damon, Damon did kill Jeremy…

It just seemed like things were getting harder for my family and friends as more obstacles were thrown in to the mess our lives had already been.

That and I hadn't heard from Chastity since Olivia told me she wasn't feeling well.

Well, I haven't heard anything from her since she sent me a text saying she was feeling fine and didn't need me to check on her in response to my messages.

Regardless of what she said, I had stopped by her and Olivia's house with Bonnie after she set Damon on fire, but their dad said that she wasn't there. Their Aunt Claire said that she had been there up until about an hour after the carnival started but then supposedly decided to go, after all- implying that not just to her parents and Olivia, but her aunt as well.

She obviously wasn't aware that I had spoken to Olivia today and she most likely wasn't aware that Olivia knew she wasn't at their Aunt Claire's.

I didn't understand. Did Elizabeth have something to do with this? Did Katherine? It obviously involved one of them as Chastity would never disappear like this on her own accord and the fact that her disappearance is coinciding with their return…

 _You don't deserve to be lied to. Especially not by the people who should be more honest with you than anyone. Demand answers from them, don't settle for lies. That includes everyone else too._

Olivia's words suddenly rang through my head. What had she meant by that? Who else was lying to me?

The people who should be more honest with me than anyone. Friends, family…Elena, Jeremy, Stefan…Chastity?

What did Olivia know that I didn't? What else was there for me to know besides the fact that I was adopted? Was there something about my family that my siblings knew about that they kept from me? Did Stefan know more about my connection to Elizabeth or Elena's to Katherine than he was letting on?

I blew out a sigh and stopped pacing. There were way too many questions popping up in my head. There were so many puzzle pieces and I had no idea how it was even supposed to turn out.

I considered asking Aunt Claire if there was anything she could do to track Chastity down, which I assumed she would be able to do considering Bonnie's Grams was able to find us when we were taken to the motel, but Olivia insisted there wasn't any need for it. She and Bonnie both seemed reassured that wherever Chastity was, she was alright.

How they could stay so calm, I had no idea. Maybe I just needed sleep.

So that's what I'll do then. Sleep and hope that Chastity gets back to me in the morning.


	4. Bad Moon Rising

**Sorry for the long wait, lovelies. I had a baby recently and she's a little bit of a handful (takes after me, apparently). It doesn't really help that her big brother feels the need to compete with her for attention- even though he knows mommy and daddy love him just as much- but what are you gonna do?**

 **Ah sigh.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Sorry again for the long wait!**

 **Love, Kathy**

 **Favorite Song: Changes by Stars**

* * *

"Thanks for coming, Ric," Damon greeted Alaric as he entered the boarding house, walking in to the living room where Stefan, Elena, and I were all sitting on the sofa facing him. "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Bourbon? Bourbon in your coffee?"

Alaric ignored his offer and rolled his eyes as he sat on the sofa across from us. "Sam and Elena mentioned you needed my help."

"Yeah, we were hoping you could shed some light on the Lockwood family," Stefan stated, getting straight to business.

He didn't bother to hide his confusion.

"Now, why would I know anything about the Lockwoods?" he asked curiously.

"Well, _you_ wouldn't," Damon pointed out.

"We were hoping Isobel's research from when you were at Duke might have something," I took over, knowing that Damon would most likely refer to Isobel in a more…blunt manner.

Still, I caught the pain in his eyes- though it was small and showed only for a moment- at the mention of Isobel and winced.

"You said that she had spent years researching this town," Stefan added for confirmation.

"Isobel's research here- Mystic Falls- was rooted in folklore and legend. At the time, I thought most of which was fiction," Alaric explained.

I furrowed my eyebrows. He said folklore and legend, which included a lot more than just vampires. If Damon had suspicions that the Lockwoods were supernatural, but not vampires, then there was a much bigger pool of supernatural beings that they could be…

"Like that amazing vampire story," Damon commented from his seat with big eyes and a smirk.

I twiddled my thumbs together as I continued to think. Mason Lockwood competed with Stefan in an arm wrestling match- one Stefan actually had to try in- and won. Mason wasn't necessarily stronger given Stefan's diet, but he had to be at least as strong as vampires were…

Pushing Mason on the back burner of my mind, as I didn't have much to go on with him since I didn't know him well, I focused on Tyler and Mr. Lockwood.

Damon said that the Gilbert device effected Mayor Lockwood and the same went for Tyler, but the vervain had no effect. Tyler was strong, but he never demonstrated anything that could be considered supernatural, really. The amount of fights he got in to, though, and over some of the smallest things… He had a short fuse. It was almost like he always had to prove he was the alpha male or something.

"Aside from vampires, what else?" Elena asked Ric attentively.

"Werewolves."

The word was out of my mouth before I even realized it.

Elena, Damon, Stefan, and Alaric all looked at me- the latter of which seemed the most surprised.

"Uh…exactly. Lycanthrope," he said.

"Werewolves?" Elena repeated me as she sat up on the sofa while Stefan and Damon exchanged.

"No way, impossible," Damon immediately shot down. "Way too Lon Chaney."

"Says Bela Lugosi," I muttered, earning an eye roll.

"Is it, though?" Stefan questioned Damon.

Damon gave him a look.

"I've been on this planet for 160-some odd years, I've never come across one," he said. He turned toward Alaric. "If werewolves exist, where the hell are they?"

"Maybe they're dying down, so the rest are in hiding," I suggested. "It would make sense."

"In hiding from what, though?" Stefan asked.

I shrugged. "From enemies to avoid becoming extinct?"

"Why do you suspect the Lockwoods?" Alaric suddenly asked.

"Because vervain didn't effect the mayor on Founder's Day, but the Gilbert device did," Damon answered. "And it effected his son Tyler."

"And at the school carnival, his uncle Mason exhibited inhuman behavior when he fought one of the carnival workers. It suggested some sort of a supernatural entity," Stefan continued explaining.

Tyler. Becoming a vampire and dealing with stronger emotions, being a vampire and maintaining a diet so you didn't get noticed, but also kept yourself strong enough so your hunger didn't get out of control…it all seemed so difficult. What was being a werewolf like? What was Tyler going through and was he going through it alone? Did his uncle Mason know? Was that why he came home?

"We were hoping Isobel's research could help us figure out what it is," Elena spoke.

"Well, all of her things are still at Duke," Alaric said, clearing his throat. "I mean, her office is still there. She's technically still missing."

"So can we get access to it?" Damon asked.

Alaric seemed to hesitate and didn't answer, not that I blamed him. We were asking him to bring us to his "missing" wife's office and go through her research. That was bound to difficult for him to do.

"Ric, we need to know what we're dealing with here," Damon impatiently stressed. "If this wolf man thing is true, I've seen enough movies to know it's not good. It means Mason Lockwood is a real-life Lon Chaney and that little Tyler punk may just very well be Lon Chaney Jr., which means Bela Lugosi- as Sam so affectionately referred to me earlier- is totally screwed."

"Alaric," I spoke gently. "I know we're asking a lot from you and I'm sorry, but we really need your help."

I didn't want to push him if it would hurt him, but it was true. We really did need his help because if the Lockwoods were really werewolves, that would mean there were more and even though I didn't think the Lockwoods- especially not Tyler- would be threats, I've encountered enough threatening vampires in contrast to Stefan and Damon to know that not all of them would be friendly. We needed to be prepared and know- as Damon said- what we were dealing with. We had to protect the people we cared about and maybe, just maybe, I could even help Tyler.

* * *

Later, after Alaric agreed to take us to Duke, I went through some of my things in my room to take with me on the road while Stefan sat with Elena in her room as she did the same.

Originally, I wanted to stay behind with Stefan to help Caroline, but I got a lot of pushback from both the Salvatores. Damon reminded me, in his kind Damon-manner, that Caroline thought I smelled like dessert and couldn't be trusted not to hurt me with how new she was. Stefan pointed out that it would only be more difficult for her to have me around.

So, as much as Elena and Stefan didn't like the thought of me being around Damon all day, I agreed to go to Duke to go look through Isobel's research. Elena and Alaric would both probably need moral support anyway and Damon wasn't really the best person for that.

What bothered me more than anything, though, had nothing to do with Caroline or with going to Duke and had everything to do with the fact that I hadn't heard from Chastity since the night of the school carnival. She hadn't called or messaged me at all and she wasn't at home whenever I went over. Apparently, Olivia didn't even know where she was and only told her parents that she was with their Aunt Claire, which I knew wasn't true.

Sighing, I finished packing my necessities and slung my bag over my shoulder. As much as I hated it, there was absolutely nothing I could do. Voicing my concerns to Olivia and Bonnie only got me reassurances that Chastity was okay and everyone else had enough on their plates. So I just had to let things run their course and trust that Chastity could take care of herself.

"Elena, Sam! You coming?"

Aunt Jenna's call pulled me out of my reverie and I left my room, shutting the door behind me. A whole day with Alaric, Elena, and Damon. It couldn't be too bad. Right?

I descended the staircase behind Stefan and Elena, immediately noticing the tense way Aunt Jenna looked outside from the front door.

I stopped in front of her with Elena after Stefan went out, both of us watching our conflicted aunt with concern.

"Hey, are you okay?" Elena asked her.

"Yeah," Aunt Jenna smiled weakly. "Just men and their baggage."

I followed her gaze back to Alaric and smiled sadly at her as I reached out to her, placing a gentle hand on her arm.

"He really likes you," I assured her. "I can tell just by the way he looks at you. And I know he's trying to move on. You're really helping him, though. More than you think."

Elena nodded in agreement, earning a smile from our favorite aunt.

* * *

"Sorry you can't come too, Stef," Damon mocked with a fake pout as Elena shoved her bag in to the car through the backseat window, all the while glaring at Damon.

She kept her piercing eyes on him as she turned toward Stefan. Her look was so cold that even I got shivers from her.

"Call me if you need anything," Stefan told Elena, who finally stopped glaring at Damon to look at him. Stefan glanced over at me. "Both of you."

"There won't be any need for Sam to call you," Damon spoke up, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I'll take _really_ good care of her."

"Damon," I sighed, knowing he was just trying to provoke Elena and Stefan.

" _You're_ actually going to stay as far away from her as possible," Elena scathingly spoke.

"Well that won't be possible considering we're going to be in some very _tight_ quarters for a while," Damon smirked, pulling me closer.

Sensing the tensions rising between Elena, Stefan, and Damon- and not liking that I was essentially being used as a pawn to mess with them- I diffused the situation by pulling myself away from Damon and standing in the middle of him and my sister and her boyfriend.

"Ok, it's time to go," I said. "We asked Alaric to take us to Duke with him, he was nice enough to say yes, and we've kept him waiting long enough. The least we could do is put this-" I gestured between everyone. "-on hold until we get back and are on our own time."

With that, I stepped around to the other side of the car and got in the backseat behind Alaric, who smiled at me through the rearview mirror.

"Are you sure you're younger than them?" he asked with a teasing smile.

I smiled back. "Not always."

* * *

The ride to Duke reminded me of the road trips my family would take when Elena, Jeremy, and I were kids. Elena and Jeremy would fight, Mom and Dad would break it up and tell them to leave each other alone, and not two minutes later they'd be back at it.

Well, Elena was here reprising her own role and instead of Jeremy, we had Damon and instead of Mom and Dad, we had Alaric.

"You know, this whole pretending to hate me thing is getting a little silly," Damon told Elena, who had been ignoring him. "Sam got over it."

"I don't think she's pretending," Alaric shook his head. "You did kill their brother."

"And Sam didn't get over it," Elena snapped. "I haven't once heard her say she forgave you."

I looked away when Damon looked back at me, unable to meet his gaze to silently tell him that Elena was right. I was trying…but I haven't quite gotten there yet. I mean, he did kill my brother. Whether he saw the ring or not, that fact is irrefutable.

"Ok, first, there is a huge asterisk to the whole me killing Jeremy statement," Damon pointed out. "He came back to life."

"Yeah, thanks to a ring that you didn't know he was wearing," Elena snidely retorted.

I wanted to speak up to say that we didn't know for sure Damon didn't see the ring, but Damon beat me to it.

"Why are you so sure I didn't know?" he asked.

Sitting up straight in my seat, I took this as my chance to get an answer.

"Did you know, Damon?" I asked him, focusing on nothing else but him.

He looked back at me. "Yes."

That tone and his face…

"You're lying," I called out.

"Sam," he protested, seeming surprised I didn't believe him. "I saw the ring! It's a big tacky thing. It's hard to miss."

His expression remained the same with the too teasing eyes and the less than genuine smile. I had to swallow and look away out my window to digest the fact that Damon had actually lied to me and it hurt a lot more than even I expected it to. I needed him to tell me the truth because I knew that my uncertainty over whether or not Damon saw the ring was what was holding me back from forgiving him before. How was I supposed to completely forgive him when he was lying now?

I couldn't.

No one said anything after that. We continued moving down the road and a glimpse of sunlight streaming in the car caused the ring on Alaric's hand to sparkle, reminding me that he was wearing the other Gilbert ring.

Big, tacky…Damon could call it what he wanted. At the end of the day, it would keep Alaric and Jeremy protected and I was glad for that.

* * *

We finally arrived on the Duke campus after what felt like years of riding in the car with suffocating tension, specifically between Damon and Elena.

As we got out of the car and headed toward the building where Isobel's office was, with Alaric leading the way, I took the time to look around. The campus was beautiful with buildings constructed in grey and white stones like the castles in the fairy tales Mom read my siblings and I growing up. The architecture, overall, was elegant and allowed light to shine throughout the campus.

"So Isobel was officially employed by the anthropology department given that most paranormal phenomena is rooted in folklore," Alaric explained as we entered Isobel's office building.

We came in to an office where a woman- a student or former student- with long dark hair was rummaging through a file drawer.

"Excuse me," Alaric spoke, earning her attention. "Hi, I'm Alaric Saltzman. I called earlier."

"Yes. Of course," she smiled, obviously coming out of a daze from seeing Alaric. She walked closer and shook his hand. "I'm Vanessa Monroe, research assistant- comparative folklore."

She tensed ever so slightly and got a strange look in her eyes when her gaze fell on Elena, Damon, and I. She looked us up and down- Damon mostly, I assumed- before she shook her head.

"Uh, let me just grab Isobel's keys."

Alaric stopped her, having caught the looks she kept giving us.

"I'm sorry. These are my friends Elena, Samantha, and Damon."

"You can just call me Sam," I smiled. "I hope our being here isn't too much of an imposition."

"Please, Isobel's office is right through there," she chuckled, still with a strange look, and gestured to the door to our right. She dug through her desk drawer as she continued, "Isobel was one of my first professors. I'm a grad student. She was… _brilliant_. One of the reasons I went into folklore."

"You must really admire her," I noted.

She nodded once before her disposition changed, becoming more uncomfortable now as she looked to Alaric. "Uh, I have to ask, has there been any news?"

"No. No, I'm afraid not," Alaric replied, clearly bothered.

I reached up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, earning a reassuring smile from him.

Vanessa seemed to solemnly accept the answer and stood up from the desk to lead us into the office. "It's right this way."

She led us in to the office and while the darkness of the room gave the impression of the absence of life, there was something about the atmosphere in general that suggested emptiness, that Isobel hadn't been here in a long time.

I watched over Elena as she looked around her birth mother's office. I knew that meeting Isobel had disappointed her as Isobel wasn't at all what Elena thought she'd be, but I knew there was a part of Elena- no matter what she said- that wanted to know what Isobel was like before. This office was a place she must have spent hours in. In a way, it was like Elena was getting closer to her by being here.

"I'll grab the light. Feel free to look around," Vanessa told us after we had all filed in the room. "It's fascinating, isn't it?"

I took the chance to glance around the room at all the books, papers, artifacts, and other trinkets spread out on the many shelves of the room.

I walked to the shelf behind Isobel's desk with Elena, eyeing a particular light glossy wooden circular box. It had a few chips in it, the bronze lock was rusted, and it was obviously aged, but it was strangely…familiar.

Shaking it off, I glanced behind me and noticed that Vanessa was gone. Apparently, Damon had noticed the same.

"Where'd she go?" he asked no one in particular while an uneasy feeling fell over me.

I glanced toward Elena, who furrowed her eyebrows at Damon's question and looked behind her.

Suddenly, I heard loud footsteps behind me and, now alarmed by the look on Elena's face, I turned in time to see Vanessa point the crossbow now in her hands at me. Before I could even blink, I heard the click of the trigger, sending the arrow flying at me. My eyes refused to close, probably as frozen as the rest of my body was, and I watched as Damon blurred in front of me just before the arrow could hit me, piercing through his back instead.

He grunted in pain at the impact and began to fall over. I shot my arms out, suddenly finding the strength to move again, catching him before he could hit the ground while Alaric pinned Vanessa against the wall.

"Damon," I breathed out in shock.

"Didn't really think I'd let you take an arrow, did you, cute stuff?" he asked with a humorless chuckle.

I was angry, so angry, still for what he did to Jeremy, but…when someone takes a bullet- or in this case, an arrow- for you, it's a little hard to stay as angry.

* * *

It didn't take long for me to figure out that Vanessa thought I was Elizabeth. After all, she was Isobel's assistant, so it only made sense that she would have read through all of her research, including the stuff on Mystic Falls, and of course there was information on vampires in that research considering Isobel tracked Damon down through said research. She also mentioned the first time Elena and I met her that she had come across Elizabeth and even made a remark about how much I really did resemble her. Vanessa must have also seen a picture of Elizabeth or maybe even met her at one point.

While Alaric took Vanessa in to the other room to calm her down, Elena and I tended to Damon, who was now leant over Isobel's desk with the arrow sticking straight out with no intention to come out without a fight.

"Pull it out, one of you. I can't reach it," Damon patiently told Elena and I. "Just pull the damn thing out. It hurts."

I moved my hands away and toward the arrow, on and off. This was why I couldn't be a doctor. I couldn't stand seeing people in pain and seeing things like this…really only made me panic.

Before I could attempt again, Elena reached over and unceremoniously ripped the arrow out of his back, drawing an extended groan of pain from Damon. I didn't miss the small satisfied smile on Elena's face as she dropped the arrow on the desk.

"Whoo!" he concluded, seeming to breathe easier now. He straightened himself and rolled his shoulders as he drew in hisses of air. "That bitch is dead."

"Uh, you're not gonna kill her," Elena stated.

I stepped in front of Damon. "Please don't jump straight to that."

"No, of course not. Let's hear her reasoning for firing off a dangerous weapon at you and almost killing you. Maybe it's a really good one like…there was a fly and she just wanted to kill it," Damon sarcastically remarked, passing by Elena and I to walk to the door.

"Damon, she probably panicked when she saw me and acted on instinct. You can't kill her for that," I pleaded to stop him. "Not everyone is as good at keeping it together as you are."

"You're trying to manipulate me," he smirked bitterly at me with hard eyes.

I blinked at him in hurt. "How could you ever think I would do that? And to you, of all people."

Damon had been manipulated and hurt enough in the past by both Katherine and Elizabeth. Did he honestly believe that I could do anything even remotely similar to what they had done to him? I won't lie, the possibility that he may have believed it hurt.

"You know what, you are a psychotic mind who snaps and kills people impulsively, so fine. Kill her. See what happens," Elena scoffed, pulling me gently away from Damon.

His icy eyes never moved away from mine, almost like he was searching for something. Not an answer…a reasoning, maybe.

"Okay," Elena scoffed when he still didn't move.

She bumped past Damon, taking me along with her to the other room. All the while, I never lost the feeling of Damon's eyes on me.

* * *

Vanessa, who was now seated in one of the seats in the other room, was obviously still a bit panicked as she was trying to catch her breath while Alaric stood across from her, ready to restrain her if she tried anything again. In all honesty, I didn't blame her for panicking in the first place.

Elena and I walked up to her, Elena at a faster pace than I since I could tell she was both aggravated by Damon and unsettled by the fact that Vanessa had almost killed me and most likely would have gone for her next.

"I'm Elena Gilbert, Isobel's daughter and a descendant of Katherine Pierce," Elena introduced herself firmly as Vanessa looked between her and me in realization. "This is my sister, Samantha Gilbert. While she isn't Isobel's daughter, we are sure that she's a descendant of Elizabeth Pierce."

"And this is Damon Salvatore," I gestured to Damon.

"Who you just shot," Elena reminded warningly.

"I'd be _extra_ nice to me right now," Damon said ominously.

I gave him a look over my shoulder before turning back to Vanessa. "Look, I know you're probably really, really freaked out right now, but we really need your help. We need to see all of Isobel's research- anything related to Mystic Falls. So…do you think that you could help us out?"

* * *

After Vanessa agreed to help us, we returned to Isobel's office to look through her research. Though I was sure Vanessa had calmed down significantly and wouldn't try hurting Elena or me, Damon still kept a close eye on her and made sure to keep me at a distance from her.

While I flipped through books next to Elena, Vanessa pulled out a large cardboard box.

"This box tracks both Katherine and Elizabeth's arrival to Mystic Falls in April of 1864," she explained as she brought it up to Elena and I while Damon quickly made his way over from the joint room he had been searching through after seeing Vanessa by us.

The box was full of books and document folders, each labeled Mystic Falls.

"Is that all there is about them?" Elena asked, slightly disappointed by the lack of information.

"All that I'm aware of," Vanessa replied.

I glanced up at Damon, catching a strange look on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows, but stayed silent as he tracked back to the other room again. I'd talk to him later.

Elena looked from Damon down to the dried vervain plant in the box, pulling out a couple pieces to hand over to Vanessa.

"Here," she whispered. "Take this."

Vanessa slowly took hold of the pieces. "Does vervain really work?"

"Nope! Not at all," Damon replied from the other room.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled at Vanessa and nodded.

"Can he hear us?" Vanessa asked in a lower tone.

"No, that would be creepy," Damon whispered loudly.

"Can he read minds, too?" she then asked almost sarcastically as she tucked the vervain in her pocket.

I opened my mouth to answer, but Damon beat me to it.

"You know, if you want to see me naked, all you have to do is ask," he told her in his usual Damon manner.

"That, he can't do," I assured Vanessa, who was obviously bewildered by Damon's cocky retort. That or he was close in guessing her thoughts…

"Though he is very capable of being a first rate jackass," Elena muttered.

Vanessa quietly thanked her for the vervain before returning to searching through the documents with us.

* * *

"Any luck?" Damon whispered from behind me.

I sighed as I swapped a letter I had been browsing through for an aged book while Elena completely ignored him. "There's nothing in here about Katherine and Elizabeth that we don't already know."

There would have to be a reason for that. As brilliant as Isobel was, as good at finding things out as she was, maybe there was a reason we weren't finding anything more on Katherine and Elizabeth. They would have had to have left a trail of some sort leading to Mystic Falls, but they quite literally appeared out of nowhere. The story was they were orphans from Atlanta, but Isobel had absolutely nothing on them from that time which had to mean one or a combination of three things: One, Katherine and Elizabeth Pierce weren't their real names. Two, Isobel hadn't gotten that far in her research- which seemed the least likely. And three, Katherine and Elizabeth were really good at hiding their tracks.

While three was true enough, everyone talked. Someone somewhere had to know something about them and that something should have been found by Isobel. One it is…

"Ah, man. It's a bummer you're mad at me, because I could tell you what I know. It really is a shame Elena's being a killjoy, too."

"And you said I was manipulating you," I couldn't stop myself from pointing out. "Anyway, I'm starting to figure that we're looking in the wrong places for answers about them now."

"What do you mean?" Elena immediately asked.

Before I could answer, Alaric called us.

"Hey guys! Check this out," he said.

Elena, Damon, and I crossed over toward him and Vanessa, who was holding a book in one hand and the open book of information Alaric found in the other.

"There's no record of werewolf mythology in Mystic Falls," she began, waving the closed book before setting it down. "But here are some records of some of the lesser known legends." She handed the open book over to me and I held it open for both Elena and Damon to look at as well as myself. "Everything from the Scandinavian skinwalkers to the Maréchal de Retz."

I studied the drawing in the book. It was older, that much I could tell, but I wasn't sure how old or even what culture.

Vanessa pointed to the text on the page beside the drawing and said a phrase I didn't understand.

"Is that Aztec?" I asked, guessing from the drawing.

Vanessa nodded. "It roughly translates into the 'curse of the sun and the moon'. It explains one origin of the werewolf curse traced through Virginia," she told us all as I flipped to another page of the book, showing more drawings. "The short story; 600 years ago, the Aztecs were plagued by werewolves and vampires. They terrorized the countryside, made farming impossible and hunting impossible. Until an Aztec shaman cursed them-" she pointed to a drawing that must have represented the shaman, "-making vampires slaves to the sun and werewolves servants of the moon. As a result, vampires could only prowl at night, and werwolves could only turn on a full moon. When the full moon crests in the sky, whosever unlucky enough to fall under the werewolf curse turns in to a wolf."

It fell silent for only a moment before Damon spoke.

"Can they control the transformation?" he asked.

"If it were a choice, it wouldn't be called a curse," Vanessa responded smartly.

"So they can't control their transformation, they must not be able to control themselves in their wolf form…does that mean they'll attack humans?" I asked.

"Yes," Vanessa answered solemnly. "But instinct and centuries of rivalry have hardwired them to hunt their prey of choice…"

"Vampires," I finished in realization.

"Yes."

At her confirmation, I immediately looked to an unsettled Damon, though he was quick to cover it up.

"Well, if werewolves were hunting vampires, I would know about it," Damon stated defensively.

"Not if there aren't that many werewolves left alive," Vanessa countered. "Hundreds of years ago, vampires hunted them almost to extinction."

"So Sam was right earlier," Elena spoke up. "They are close to being extinct…but why would the vampires do that?"

"To protect themselves," I figured as I gazed up at the ceiling in thought. "You don't go out of your way to kill off a species unless they're a threat in some way."

"That's exactly right," Vanessa said. "In fact, legend has it that a werewolf bite is fatal to vampires."

The Lockwoods, Caroline, Stefan, Damon, everyone in town…if the Lockwoods really were werewolves, then everyone in Mystic Falls was in danger, unless they had figured out some way to restrain themselves while they transform.

It worried me. I wanted everyone to be safe, but I knew what Damon was already thinking of eliminating the threat and I didn't want him to do it. So far, Mason Lockwood hadn't done anything and he was Tyler's uncle. Sure they weren't that close, but I couldn't stand the thought of Tyler losing someone else so soon after he lost his dad.

And speaking of Tyler, had he turned? Was there some sort of trigger to the curse? Was it possible to live out your whole life cursed without actually transforming?

There were so many questions I had and so many answers I needed to find if I wanted to keep everyone safe, but there was no time to find them before the full moon tonight. Hopefully tonight everyone would be safe until I found the answers I needed to keep people safe.

* * *

While Elena went out to tell Stefan about werewolves and their bites to keep him on his toes tonight during the full moon, I continued looking through the papers from the box of research on Mystic Falls and Katherine and Elizabeth, though I had already lost hope that I would find anything we didn't already know.

I tried not to worry so much about Stefan and Caroline. I knew Stefan was capable of looking out for himself and he wouldn't let anything happen to Caroline, but my stomach continued to do sick somersaults. It still didn't sit well with me that Elena, Damon, Alaric, and I were here while they were back home with everyone else on the night of a full moon with a possible werewolf in town.

I continued digging through the box, eventually coming across an aged photo of Katherine and Elizabeth, side by side.

I swallowed as I stared down at the picture. Just remembering the time I came face-to-face with Katherine sent shivers down my spine. This picture really didn't do enough justice to demonstrate just how much she looked like Elena. It made me wonder how much Elizabeth really looked like me…

At that point, Elena re-entered the office and joined my side.

"What's that?" she asked before I saw her pale significantly.

I quickly set the picture down, not wanting to upset her more. I knew she wasn't handling Katherine's reappearance well and while we were here partly to find out more about her and Elizabeth, Elena didn't need any visual reminders of their similarities.

"Hey, have you done any research on doppelgängers?" she asked Vanessa after clearing her throat.

"Well, the word means a lot of different things to different cultures, but typically a doppelgänger is a living, breathing double of oneself," Vanessa explained as she looked Elena and I both up and down like she did just hours ago.

"Did Isobel have anything that'd explain the link between Elena and Katherine? Or even between me and Elizabeth?" I asked hopefully.

She pointed back to the box. "That's all she had on them, unfortunately."

I glanced back toward Damon, who quickly shut the book he had and placed it back on the shelf.

"I can tell you that doppelgängers usually torment the people they look like, trying to undo their lives. It's not exactly uplifting."

"And more things we already know," Elena drawled sourly.

I turned back to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, hating that she was blaming her existence for Katherine's games even though Elizabeth caused the most pain with Caroline.

"I just want to know why I look like Katherine and why Sam looks like Elizabeth," Elena vented out, her frustration showing now.

"Head scratcher, isn't it?"

I turned once more to Damon. He knew something, obviously, but he was holding back. Why? I didn't know.

"Do you know something or are you just being yourself?" Elena snapped.

"Well, _if_ I know anything, I'm not going to tell you. Not with that attitude," he replied.

"Damon, please," I begged. "I know you know something. Just tell us. I've always been honest with you, I've never tried to manipulate you, and I've always helped you when I could, right? That's what friends are supposed to do."

Damon silently stared down at me, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Just leave it, Sam," Elena broke in. "He won't help us. He obviously doesn't really want to be friends and he doesn't want our forgiveness."

With that, she pulled me away from Damon with her and I lacked the strength to fight against her. I didn't understand why he was doing this and I wasn't sure if it was that or the fact that he was doing it in general was hurting me more.

* * *

After a long day of searching and coming up with enough on werewolves to stay aware and nothing on Katherine and Elizabeth, Elena and I walked back to the car after thanking Vanessa for her help while Alaric stayed to close up with her. Once we reached the car, I attempted to open the door only to find it locked.

"Here," Damon stepped up behind us and beeped the car, unlocking it with a smug smile as if he performed a magic trick. "Allow me."

Elena wasted no time in climbing in the back and I went to follow her, but found myself being blocked by Damon. I stared up at him tiredly.

"Damon," I sighed.

"You can't hate me forever," he attempted to say in his usual arrogant manner, though I caught traces of desperation and pleading.

I softened my gaze on him. "I didn't say I hated you. I just…never said that I forgive you."

"Can we just go? Get out of her way, Damon," Elena demanded.

Seeing that I wasn't in the mood to have this conversation and most likely annoyed by Elena, Damon moved his arm and held up a book.

"You didn't dig deep enough," he told me, holding it out to me.

I looked with curious eyes at the script on the spine.

"Petrova," I read out. My face morphed when I grasped what this meant. "Pierce…wasn't their real name, was it?"

"Katherine and Elizabeth originally came from Europe," Damon explained. " _'Petrova'_ was their real name. Katerina and Elisaveta Petrova, to be exact."

I couldn't stop the smile from rising on my face. "And however did you find that out?"

"Back when, I saw their names engraved on a couple of their heirlooms," he smirked. "Men snoop, too, you know."

So they did change their names. But why? To avoid arousing suspicion about what they were or to avoid being tracked down?

"Let me know what you find. I'm very curious myself," he concluded, dismissing me.

I smiled again up at him, this time more out of gratuity than amusement. "Thank you, Damon."

He nodded and I went to climb in the car next to Elena, but he halted me once more.

"You have every right to hate me," he spoke quickly. "And I understand that you don't hate me, that you're angry at me and to be honest, you're going soft on me as you really should hate me. But you were angry about a lot before we became friends and we went through a lot together. It would…suck if that was gone forever."

His burning eyes penetrated through me, making it extremely difficult to think. Not only that, but Elena was impatiently waiting in the car for me.

"So, is it?" he pressed. "Have I lost you forever?"

I wanted to say no, but every fiber in my being was screaming at me to remember what he did to Jeremy and reminding me that he lied to me earlier about having seen Jeremy's ring. And even though he most likely saved my life earlier, it wasn't enough to warrant my forgiveness for that. I needed him to admit the truth first.

"Thank you, Damon. Not just for the book, but for earlier, too. With the arrow," I said sincerely.

I quickly got in the car and let out a big gush of air. Elena set a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Fine," I assured her with a small smile.

Not wanting her to worry herself with me, I set the book on both of our laps as a distraction. We finally had something on Katherine and Elizabeth and maybe Elena could find some peace on that front. My issues with Damon could wait…

* * *

…but not for long.

When we got back to the house, Alaric went to speak with Jenna while I passed off the book to Elena so I could stay outside to clear the air with Damon without holding her up. We browsed through the book on the way back, but it was dark in the car so it was a bit hard to read, so I knew Elena was antsy about getting enough light to really look through it.

"Road trips work well for us," Damon commented after Elena went back inside the house, slamming the door shut behind her. "Oh, come on! I know I must have chipped a bit off of her wall of hatred. I mean, I know I earned some of your forgiveness today, right?"

"Damon…" I sighed. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for what I needed to hear and hopefully finally would. "I need to know the truth."

His smile disappeared and I was glad he knew exactly what I was talking about, but I clarified it anyway.

"Did you know that Jeremy was wearing the ring?"

The silence that followed was brief, but it was powerfully deafening. Damon's eyes stared directly in to mine, his expression not liking that he was being backed in to a corner, neither of us daring to look away. I needed to hear him say it. He needed me to forgive him.

"No," he finally confessed. "No, I didn't."

I shut my eyes and let the truth hit me like a tsunami.

"Katherine really pissed me off," he continued, explaining himself. "And I snapped. And…I got lucky with the ring. And I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't wearing it. I just- Sam…I'm sorry."

I knew it…I did…I just wish I was wrong. I wish that I could be the apologetic one for doubting him. I wish that he wouldn't have to pain himself like this, I wish he wouldn't have to feel the guilt he clearly did. I wish so many things were different about this situation…but they couldn't be.

I looked up at him, feeling my heart clench when I saw that he was near tears.

"Thank you for being honest with me," I began. "And to answer your question from earlier, about our friendship, is…no. No, you haven't lost me forever. I don't think…that even if you tried that you really could."

His entire expression lit up and the clenching in my chest lessened, becoming more of a fluttering now.

"I'm working on forgiving you," I went on. "I have been since that night. To be honest, I feel horrible that I can't hate you even when Jeremy and Elena can and I know that I should. I just- I just…I can't. I need time, though. I promise you that I will try my hardest and I promise that I will get there eventually, I just need you to give me time."

He nodded with a swallow. "I understand. Take all the time you need."

I smiled softly in thanks and he stepped closer, gently kissing my forehead.

"Goodnight, Sam," he whispered.

"Goodnight, Damon."

He gave me one last smile before stepping off the porch and disappearing into the night. I shut my eyes and allowed a night breeze to brush against my face. I felt liberated. At least from that particular issue. There was more- so much more- that I needed to deal with.

Maybe it could wait until tomorrow, though.

* * *

 **Third POV**

After reluctantly leaving her little sister alone with her boyfriend's psychotic killer of an older brother on the porch, Elena headed up to her room after greeting Jenna and plopped on her bed, studying the book that Damon had handed over to Sam.

Petrova. She was curious about exactly where the name originated from and why Katherine and Elizabeth didn't go by it when they came to Mystic Falls. Hopefully there'd be answers to that and questions she hadn't even thought of yet in here.

Opening the book, Elena was greeted by a thick section of folded parchment like paper loose from the rest of the book. The color was an aged yellow, unlike the book, and it was loosely tied shut with a fragile looking green ribbon.

Curious, Elena undid the ribbon and unfolded the paper to reveal what appeared to be a family tree, maybe the Petrovas?

She skimmed through, but wasn't able to find Katherine's name or Elizabeth's- not even their real names. In fact, no one on this tree was named Petrova…

"Antonova," she read the scripture at the top.

She furrowed her eyebrows. Why would there be a family tree for a family that wasn't the Petrova's be in a Petrova book?


	5. Up For Adoption

Hey everyone! Jeesh, do I suck or what? What's it been? Four months? 16 weeks? 112 days? Not exact numbers, but somewhere in there, right? Right.

Well, I have some...not so good news and some slightly okay news.

The slightly okay news is that I finished the Vampire Diaries and...yeah. I don't know how many of you guys have seen the end, it's been a while since the finale, but that...ugh. It just...

 **Alright, I'm going in to spoiler territory because I need to rant:**

 **I felt the finale was rushed. I feel like they were just trying to push things along to get it over with. I hated what happened to Stefan and how he and Caroline were in this slow burn romance only for him to die just so Damon could live to see Elena again- and if I'm being honest, that reunion was just bad acting.**

 **And speaking of, Ian and Nina didn't look like they wanted to be anywhere near each other, but at least Nina was putting in some effort. Her energy just wasn't being met. I know it's got everything to do with their breakup, but for eff's sake! You guys are actors! You do this for a living, at least make it look like a reunion worthy of the Delena ship! Especially since it's the final episode!**

Ugh. Okay, rant over.

Back to my story's fate. I know it's my story and I can alter the plot line to work in my favor, but I just don't see where I would take it. I had a goal, but I really only planned up to season 5 and that's where the show got "meh" for me.

I guess basically what I'm saying here is that I can't write a fanfiction for a show that I just feel meh about. I mean, I can finish the second season. I'll even take it up to the third or fourth, but it's going to feel like work and I don't want it to feel that way because then it won't be good.

So if there's someone who wants to take over, still loves the Vampire Diaries as much as I did, and thinks they can take this story to the epic and somewhat original level I was hoping to, great! Message me about adopting the story and I'll send you the notes and little excerpts I had planned out. If you choose to use them, great. If not, that's fine. If I get no takers, I'm just gonna discontinue the story.

I mean, I'll finish the second season if that happens. I don't really like leaving things hanging. If someone wants to adopt, then I'll have a chat with him/her about what they wanna do and where they wanna pick up my slack lol.

Okay, that's all I have. I'm sorry to let you all down! Thanks for sticking with me this far and thanks for all the support! You guys have no idea how much it's all meant to me!

Stay beautiful and remember Kathy loves you!

Love, Kathy!


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